Ars Nova Workshop is thrilled to present the return of the dazzling Chicago Underground Duo, the longstanding collaboration of Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor, at Solar Myth on Saturday, May 4, 2024.

Key members of the new generation of music improvisers that emerged in Chicago in the 1990s, the acclaimed Chicago Underground Duo consists of cornetist Rob Mazurek (cornet, electronics, piano) and Chad Taylor (percussion, electronics, vibes, guitar). The duo is known for powerful grooves along with ambient sound structures, folk song simplicity and polyrhythmic bursts of energy with lyrical melodic vignettes. The pair has served as the cornerstone of a number of expansive iterations of the ensemble, from trio to orchestra, but always focused by the vision and chemistry of Mazurek and Taylor. Neither is based in Chicago any longer (Mazurek resides in Marfa, TX, while Taylor now calls Philly home), and each leads or is involved with a number of other ensembles and collaborations, but their sporadic reunions always promise a special kind of magic and invention.