Were you to isolate the je ne sais quoi of Chicago music, you might identify an openness among its musicians to experiment. Chicago trio ZRL (Zachary Good, clarinet, recorder; Ryan Packard, percussion, electronics; Lia Kohl, cello), whose improvised music suggests a striking range of musical idioms, extends this lineage. Individually, their work runs broad and deep, and prioritizes improvisation as a crucial part of their creative practices. The three are highly regarded composers, instrumentalists and arrangers, and have collaborated with artists including International Contemporary Ensemble, Makaya McCraven, Whitney, Circuit des Yeux, and Natural Information Society. Our Savings, their new album and first LP, draws on the spirit of such collaborations, bringing together classical frameworks and sonic explorations, sliding from acoustic ambience to cacophonous clatter to quietly virtuosic displays of musical invention.

ZRL recorded Our Savings during a residency at Edgar Miller’s Glasner Studio in Chicago, and the album draws influence from the space in which it was recorded: a cavernous room, trimmed with stained glass, called the Garden of Paradise. Close considerations reveal Easter eggs throughout: wild creatures living in windows and ceiling beams, scrap tile lining a fireplace. This...  more