Good Days (album)

Good Days is an album by the Chicago Underground Quartet, featuring trumpeter Rob Mazurek, guitarist Jeff Parker, keyboardist Josh Johnson, and drummer Chad Taylor. It was recorded during 2018 and 2019 at Big Ego in Long Beach California, and was released in 2020 by Astral Spirits Records.[1][2]

Good Days
Studio album by
Chicago Underground Quartet
Released2020
RecordedJuly 6, 2018; March 14, 2019; July 9, 2019
StudioBig Ego, Long Beach California
GenreFree jazz
LabelAstral Spirits
AS 125
Chicago Underground Quartet chronology
Chicago Underground Quartet
(2001)		 Good Days
(2020)

Regarding the 19-year gap between the band's previous release, Chicago Underground Quartet, and Good Days, Mazurek reflected: "It didn't feel like any time had passed. The only thing different is that maybe everyone's concept of making music is stronger after 20 years, but still similar, at least for this thing."[3] Parker stated: "You can hear it, we're a lot better now."[4]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
DownBeat[5]
The Free Jazz Collective[6]
All About Jazz[7]
Jazz TrailA–[8]

In a review for DownBeat, Aaron Cohen wrote: "Good Days illustrates how much the quartet remains a part of Chicago's history of free-jazz and open-ended improvisation... As geographically dispersed as these musicians might be nowadays, they’ve never abandon their ideals."[5]

Daniel Böker of The Free Jazz Collective stated: "the sound is still fresh and I really enjoy the way the Chicago Underground Quartet moves from melody to free improvisation from almost hypnotic beats to more open sounds without losing it completely."[6]

Writing for All About Jazz, Karl Ackermann commented: "Chicago Underground releases are always welcome; this one is a superior example of what maturity and openness can net."[7]

The Chicago Reader's Noah Berlatsky remarked: "Part of what's so engaging and inspirational about Good Days is that it feels like such a natural continuation of the band's freewheeling spirit—something that easily could've ended up being lightning in a bottle, never captured again after the 2001 album."[9]

In an article for Point of Departure, Troy Collins wrote: "As the album progresses, it becomes clear how much the original members have grown over the past two decades... Good Days is a stellar example of artistic maturity, and while it sounds new, it's also a natural continuation of the band's formative work."[10]

Jazz Trail's Filipe Freitas stated: "The versatile members of the Chicago Underground Quartet have an entrenched ability to surprise whether playing within a relaxed context or on the edge of tonality... Good Days marks a very strong return of a formidable quartet."[8]

Track listing
  1. "Orgasm" (Alan Shorter) – 5:35
  2. "Strange Wing" (Rob Mazurek) – 8:05
  3. "Good Days (For Lee Anne)" (Jeff Parker) – 2:54
  4. "Batida" (Chad Taylor) – 2:41
  5. "All The Bells" (Rob Mazurek) – 4:00
  6. "Unique Spiral" (Rob Mazurek) – 5:34
  7. "Lomé" (Chad Taylor) – 5:11
  8. "Westview" (Chad Taylor) – 3:59

Personnel

References
  1. "Chicago Underground Quartet - Good Days". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  2. "Chicago Underground Quartet - Good Days". Astral Spirits Records / Bandcamp. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  3. "Stream Chicago Underground Quartet's Good Days". The Wire. March 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  4. "70 Most Anticipated Albums of 2020". Rolling Stone. January 8, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  5. Cohen, Aaron (March 2019). "Chicago Underground Quartet: Good Days". DownBeat. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  6. Böker, Daniel (August 13, 2020). "Chicago Underground Quartet - Good Days". The Free Jazz Collective. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  7. Ackermann, Karl (March 1, 2020). "Chicago Underground Quartet: Good Days". All About Jazz. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  8. Freitas, Felipe (March 30, 2020). "Flash Reviews". Jazz Trail. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  9. Berlatsky, Noah (March 25, 2020). "The Chicago Underground Quartet bottle their lightning again". Chicago Reader. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  10. Collins, Troy. "Moment's Notice: Reviews of Recent Recordings". Point of Departure. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
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