**1/2 Chicago Underground Duo

12 OF FREEDOM

(Thrill Jockey)

Jazz-wise Chicago has always been a bastion of idiosyncrasy, so now that the city's prog-rockers -- maybe make that post-rockers -- are poking into the improv realm, it's no surprise the resulting music is flecked with structural quirks. Initially dubious, I considered this well-intentioned pair to be dabblers, and as far as form goes I guess they are. But as their emotionally graphic sound field reveals its acreage, it becomes obvious that percussionist Chad Taylor and cornettist Rob Marzurek have found a novel symmetry between daring and design. Taylor's played bop in New York; Marzurek's down with the Tortoise clique. With help from guitarist Jeff Parker, they set their sights on creating sonic poetry, jotting pieces content to evaporate into the ether after conjuring a few pithy images. Their inspirations are local: "Lemon Grass" and "Into the Unanimous Blue" resound with the grace of the Art Ensemble of Chicago's "That The Evening Sky Fell Through the Glass Wall and We Stood Alone Somewhere." Other works, especially a pair of piano/vibes fantasias, endorse Eno or Reich -- ambiance with attitude. Some expressionism is suggested. But mainly the program banks on a kind of hush that allows for rumbles, splashes, and blats to show their gentle side. It's not chops or virtuosity that dazzle on 12, it's a near-cinematic coordination of sound.

-- Jim Macnie