A beautifully chaotic yet simple take on jazz

Improvisation is one of the main qualities of the jazz genre. Rob Mazurek and Exploding Star Orchestra’s newest release, Lightning Dreamer uses this quality to its fullest potential. From the artists’ last collab, 2020’s Dimensional Stardust, there is a noticeable improvement both in the quality of the music and the overall chemistry. It points the future of jazz in the right direction.

The album starts off with the track “Future Shaman.” The groovy drums compliment the freestyling instruments nicely and give an anchoring to the track as to not sound too chaotic. The next track, “Dream Sleeper,” is a personal highlight. The artists found a way to make a modern and classic jazz crossover that make you feel like sitting in a café during a late, rainy night. The spoken word is also neat since it brings listeners into another world. The next song, “Shape Shifter,” is a cool jazz bop with the sax and drums having great chemistry. The last two songs on the album, “Black River” and “White River,” end the album on a super experimental and modern note. “Black River,” is a mess of piano notes, saxophones and drums that bring a claustrophobic tone to the track. The final song has a distorted guitar arrangement that sends the album off in style.

While Lightning Dreamers is an overall quality album, there are some drawbacks. There are some points on the album where its feels as if the musicians are not entirely in sync. It is important that during improvisation, musicians listen to the drummer’s beat and use it as a starting point to keep pace and prevent them from getting too far off track. It can also get a bit too gimmicky at times and unfortunately spoil the musicians’ intended mood.

Lightning Dreamer is an album that should excite modern jazz listeners with its potential for new listeners. Jazz, especially experimental jazz, can be difficult for novices to get into. But, this album provides both an easy and enjoyable listen for those who need something new to listen to.