CordobaFest: Flowers For Chicago's Indie Trailblazers

Every once in a while a collective group of creatives come together to define a scene, shaping history in real time with their true influence being sometimes obscured until years or decades later.  Often times being part of this group’s fandom feels like a membership within a secret society, when simply uttering their name invokes an understanding between two strangers at a party.  A collective like this often ends up influencing the sound of a generation or genre, sometimes through sheer force of will and other times in ways subtler.  Sometimes the notoriety of these groups are isolated to certain geographies (such as the band “Love” from the 60’s Haight Ashbury scene), and other times they are thrust into the national spotlight and end up defining something bigger (e.g. Nirvana with 90s grunge).  For me, the band Cordoba embodies a certain time and place in Chicago music history, a nostalgic period within the DIY scene, where the primary driver was creative artistry and freedom of expression as opposed to pride and ego. 

Cordoba’s influence could be felt far and wide in the halcyon days of Chicago’s DIY scene, playing “address available by DM” shows at all of the now shuttered venues emblematic of that period (Rutcorp, the Dojo, ETC).  The band’s ubiquity was obvious in certain ways – their saxophone player Erik is seemingly a member of every band in Chicago to the point that I’m no longer surprised when I enter a venue and see him randomly on stage – but also in ways subtler, such as the community they helped foster and steward.  The list of venues they played were as diverse as their sound, comfortably balancing shows at Chicago mainstays like Tack Room and Hungry Brain with BYOB shows at any music lover’s basement.   The ability to navigate different scenes and satisfy diverse audiences likely acted as both a strength and a weakness, but for a period of time it made them seem like the band that everyone knew, providing added legitimacy to shows that often included on the bill more experimental noise or hardcore groups.

Despite each member of the band bringing a unique sound and discipline to the outfit, the amalgamation of styles combines to create a sound both unique and harmonious. In Cam’s melodic guitar playing, he highlighted normally niche styles like math rock and jazz guitar, amalgamating in a way that made them accessible to the masses.  Brianna Tong, the lead vocalist, sings with a haunting soul sensibility that harkens to the sultry sagaciousness of sirens like Billy Holiday or Annette Peacock.  Erik Novak’s experimental and singular horn licks vacillate between frenetic free and traditional jazz styles. They keyboard work by Zach Bain-Selbo sounds simultaneously classically trained and fusion forward.  Everything was kept tight and in time by the skilled rhythm section of drummer Zach Upton-Davis and bassist Khalyle Hagood (Editors note: While I hesitate to ever call a single band the “greatest of all time”, I think Cordoba can confidently claim to be the best band that has two different Zacks' with hyphenated last names).  These disparate influences were united and tamed by the songwriting by Cam, who also wrote all of the music. 

On paper, the description of each member's sensibilities sounds too disparate to be cohesive. Yet this combination of styles somehow builds into sonic waves that are simultaneously familiar and unique. But, like the Planeteers of Saturday morning cartoon fame, each of the unique styles fall perfectly into place to conjure a musical entity that feels like it has the power to fell any foe.  That foe on which the band sets its sights is often a lofty opponent, with lyrics touching on subjects like mental health, the follies of capitalism, and the struggles of finding one’s place in a world built to corrupt or destroy those with pure intentions.  To quote the band about their latest release “…themes modulate between abstract and deeply personal, drawing inspiration from historical and present day terrors.  Yet this release is suffused with vignettes of ephemeral beauty and liberation.”  In my personal opinion, the music contains truths that can be both painful and peaceful, a stark channeling that can serve as a warning of the dark depths of human nature as well as the freedom that comes from rejecting them. 

The band lives on in the many projects it birthed, and it’s farewell concert acted as a showcase of each.  While I unfortunately arrived a little too late to catch the first two acts on the bill (Bussy Kween Powertrip and Heuristic) the rest of the day was filled with a cornucopia of acts as diverse as Cordoba itself.  Karma Fête is a funky, soulful, and futuristic outfit that evokes the downtempo RnB vibes of acts like Frank Ocean, Archy Marshall, and Blood Orange – perfectly suited for those times you feel like burning a black candle and doing some shadow work.  Je’raf conjures the revolutionary spirit of bands like Rage Against The Machine and combines it with both the sly, humorous wisdom of Minutemen and free jazz of Tom Waits.  Their performance in particular scratched and itch I didn’t know existed within me.  The final act before Cordoba’s penultimate show was Jeezel Petes, guitarist Cam’s project.  Intuitively, this may be the most direct successor to Cordoba, as it continues down the path of sonic soundscapes that would be perfect for a film score (which, consequently, is another one of Cam’s talents).  All in all, it was a bittersweet exercise in loss, change, and rebirth that I personally will remember for a long time.    

Success in the industry is often a fickle thing to understand. To those on the outside, commercial viability is often the penultimate metric. While Cordoba can clearly claim that type of success, as evidenced by the number of shows and cities in which they have performed live, I doubt that monetary gain was ever how the group measured themselves. Instead, a band like Cordoba is better measured by intrinsic metrics – things like creative evolution, community building, and conceptual uniqueness. And in by those measures their time together is a resounding success.

 Check out the playlist below to hear the music of both Cordoba and their band member’s new projects.  Though the band may not be performing together in the foreseeable future, you can still purchase music from their bandcamp as well as watch them perform their final EP in its entirety here.