A central figure in Chicago’s avante-garde scene since the 1990s, Rob Mazurek gained huge notoriety with Chicago Underground, a group that metamorphosed from a duo to an orchestra. In Brazil, where he lived for several years, he trialled a similar project called São Paulo Underground, creating the seminal Exploding Star Orchestra when he returned to Chicago. Within this project created in 2005, Mazurek has explored the most avant-garde currents in the city’s music scene, incorporating musicians from post-rock, AACM and free improvisation. This incessant quest to depict the musical landscape of this flourishing artistic epicentre led to his crossing paths with International Anthem in this new and dazzling incarnation of Exploding Star.