Photos: Event Horizon Jazz Quartet Releases CONSTERNATION Album

The EVENT HORIZON JAZZ QUARTET, a Chicago-based collective, has released CONSTERNATION, their second album and a collection of original compositions by the group's co-leaders, reedman Jim Kaczmarek and keyboardist Scott Mertens. The release comes after a six-year recording hiatus brought on by a combination of medical challenges and the Covid shutdowns.

The quartet's eponymous debut recording, Event Horizon Jazz Quartet, received widespread acclaim. The Jazz Owl praised it as 'a brilliant blending of diverse influences and inspirations that combine to create works of wonder and profound interest… the harbinger of great things to come.' Contemporary Fusion Reviews called the album 'truly masterful,' while The Art Music Lounge described it as 'an inspired and creative work.'

The quartet, rounded out by bassist Donn DeSanto and drummer Rick Vitek, has performed together for more than a dozen years. Based in Chicago, Event Horizon is known for its modern, eclectic sound: original compositions rooted firmly in jazz yet energized by hard-swinging grooves, pop sensibilities, and Latin textures. For CONSTERNATION, the band also welcomes special guests Victor Garcia (trumpet) and Raphael Crawford (trombone) on one track.

All four musicians in the quartet are Midwestern educators with deep ties to the region's jazz community. Although Kaczmarek and Mertens composed the music for CONSTERNATION, the quartet functions as a collective with each member shaping the arrangements and contributing to the ensemble's distinctive voice.

About the Musicians

Kaczmarek earned a master's degree in music from Northern Illinois University. A dedicated educator, he taught in the Chicago Public Schools for more than 25 years and codirected the Chicago Youth Jazz Ensemble. His performance résumé includes long tenures with The Buckinghams and the High Society Orchestra, and he has shared the stage with Pepper Adams, Tito Puente, Louis Bellson, Marian McPartland, and Paquito D'Rivera, among others.

Mertens, also a Northern Illinois University graduate with a master's degree in jazz education, has performed with numerous Chicago jazz groups and big bands. He has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, Dave Weckl, Peter Erskine, and Louie Bellson. He directed the NIU Community School of the Arts Jazz Band and has served as a jazz clinician at festivals throughout the Midwest.

DeSanto is a long-time member of several Chicago jazz ensembles and has performed with Jon Faddis, Thad Jones, Melba Moore, and Patti Page. He is also the owner of Bass Place Recording Studio, where many top Chicago artists have recorded.

Known for his versatility across styles, Vitek is one of the Midwest's most in-demand session drummers. He has performed and recorded with Richie Cole, Kurt Elling, Joe Lovano, and Reggie Thomas, and has toured internationally with the Tom Fuller Band and Gary Sinise's Lt. Dan Band.

About the Album

Although Event Horizon draws from a wide range of influences, their music remains firmly rooted in jazz. Their collaborative spirit and stylistic breadth result in music that is hip, unexpected, and technically sophisticated, yet deeply emotional. The album's title and many of its compositions reflect the composers' concerns about the current state of the world. Kaczmarek contributed eight pieces; Mertens contributed five.

The album opens with Mertens's 'Spring Was Here,' inspired by Chicago's famously unpredictable weather. 'We were enjoying really nice weather when it suddenly went south,' Mertens recalls. 'I was looking through my fake book and came across the standard 'Spring Is Here,' and I thought, 'Nope. Spring was here.' So, I wrote this tune.'

Kaczmarek's title track, 'Consternation,' grew out of hearing a politician—one he was not fond of—use the word. 'It made me tense up, so I came up with intervals that felt like consternation to me,' he says. 'I originally wrote it in 7, but in rehearsal Rick suggested playing it in 5. And he was right!'

Mertens's 'Tumbling After' is based on the children's rhyme 'Jack and Jill,' with a rewritten melody that preserves the nursery-rhyme feel but adds a darker edge. Kaczmarek composed 'Ballad Di Sienna' in graduate school, inspired by a failed romance. He came up with the rhythm by repeating her name, and the melody grew from that.

'Going Home,' written by Kaczmarek during Covid, reflects his sense of loss for those who died, making him think of death as a kind of homecoming. Mertens's 'JC in the Club' is a veiled homage to Coltrane's 'Naima.' He used one of Coltrane's compositional techniques to create a danceable groove tune. They invited Garcia and Crawford to join them on this number.

'I Have No Idea' has a New Orleans second line. Kaczmarek called it 'I Have No Idea' because he had no idea what to call it.

Kaczmarek wrote 'Yes' after hearing the story of John Lennon first meeting Yoko, whose work of art was a step ladder and a magnifying glass hanging from the ceiling. John looked through the lens and saw in very small letters 'Yes.' Kaczmarek wrote 'Please' as a plea for everyone to start valuing each other no matter what our differences are.

An old girlfriend of Kaczmarek would often use the expression 'Thanks for letting me prattle away,' which he was always happy to do, but wrote 'Prattle Away' with a darker edge. The title 'Spit It Out' reflects Mertens's circuitous songwriting process starting with one concept and ending with another.

'The Dane Effect' honors Kaczmarek's late brother Dane, a naturally gifted artist who died at a young age. The album closes with Mertens's 'Fourthwith,' a jaunty blues that grew out of exercises he was practicing.

CONSTERNATION was released on September 25, 2026 and is available at Eventhorizonband.net and all streaming platforms.