Mary Halvorson

Mary Halvorson (born October 16, 1980) is an American avant-garde jazz guitarist from Brookline, Massachusetts.

Mary Halvorson
Mary Halvorson with Anti-House, Jazzclub Unterfahrt, Munich, Germany, January 2011
Background information
Born (1980-10-16) October 16, 1980
Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.
GenresFree jazz, avant-garde jazz, experimental flamenco, psychedelia
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsGuitar
Years active2002–present
LabelsFirehouse 12, Thirsty Ear, Cuneiform
Associated actsTrevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant, Marc Ribot
Websitewww.maryhalvorson.com

Among her many collaborations, she has: led a trio with John Hébert and Ches Smith, and a quintet with the addition of Jon Irabagon and Jonathan Finlayson; recorded duo albums with violist Jessica Pavone; and recorded several albums with bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Tomas Fujiwara under the band name Thumbscrew.

In 2017, 2018, and 2019 Halvorson won Best Guitar in DownBeat's International Critics Poll. In 2019, she was awarded a MacArthur "Genius" Grant for music.

Early life

Halvorson began her musical education on violin but was enthralled with the idea of playing guitar after discovering Jimi Hendrix. She first picked up electric guitar at the age of 11 in seventh grade. Her first guitar teacher was Issi Rozen.[1]

She initially enrolled in Wesleyan University to study biology, but dropped her prospective major after sitting in on one of saxophonist Anthony Braxton's music classes.[2] She quickly connected with him and he heavily encouraged her to find her own expression on guitar.[2]

Later life and career

Halvorson's 2008 recording Dragon's Head was as the leader of a trio containing bassist John Hébert and drummer Ches Smith.[3] Her later album, Saturn Sings, added saxophonist Jon Irabagon and trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson.[4] In 2012, she played with trumpeter Peter Evans and drummer Weasel Walter on the trio album Mechanical Malfunction.[5]

In 2013, the trio of Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara recorded the first of several albums as the band Thumbscrew.[6][7] NPR called Halvorson's 2015 solo album Meltframe "category-exploding", and its 2015 Jazz Critics Poll named the record 7th-best of the year.[8][9]

Her album Away With You features pedal steel player Susan Alcorn, cellist Tomeka Reid and saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock.[2] The album Code Girl was Halvorson's first attempt at writing lyrics for her original works, which are sung by Amirtha Kidambi and inspired by the songwriting of Robert Wyatt and Elliot Smith.[9] The album also features drummer Tomas Fujiwara, bassist Michael Formanek and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. The album received an 8.1 rating from a Pitchfork review, explaining, "The pleasure of this kind of text comes from the way it invites active listening as a means of interpretation."[10] Code Girl is named after an offhand remark by Braxton, who used the phrase in conversation while on a European tour with Halvorson. Later, she settled on the phrase as an album title, because "at that point I'd written a lot of the lyrics... and they seemed a little bit coded and strange."[9] Halvorson has also worked with John Dieterich of Deerhoof.[11] Halvorson had previously performed some of her lyrics in collaboration with violinist Jessica Pavone, with whom she also recorded duo albums.[5] As of 2018, Halvorson was an instructor at The New School's College of Performing Arts.[12]

Halvorson won Best Guitar in DownBeat's International Critics Poll between 2017 and 2019.[13][14][15] In 2019, she was awarded a MacArthur "Genius" Grant for music.[16]

Musical style

Although Halvorson is often categorized as a jazz guitarist, her music includes elements of many other genres, such as flamenco, rock, noise, and psychedelia. In a 2018 interview with Jazz Times, Halvorson described the guitar as a "neutral vessel", saying “The cool thing about the guitar is it’s not associated as much with a particular genre... it could be classical, it could be rock and roll, it could be jazz, it could be folk.”[17]

In 2012, Troy Collins of All About Jazz called Halvorson "the most impressive guitarist of her generation", and wrote, "The future of jazz guitar starts here."[18] Jon Garelick of The Phoenix identified Halvorson's search for her own sound as a key component of her success as a musician and composer.[19]

Discography

As leader
Year recorded Title Label Notes
2008 Dragon's Head Firehouse 12 Trio, with John Hébert (bass), Ches Smith (drums)[3]
2010? Saturn Sings Firehouse 12 Quintet
2012? Bending Bridges Firehouse 12 Quintet
2013? Illusionary Sea Firehouse 12 Septet
2013? Ghost Loop EMI Trio
2014? Reverse Blue Relative Pitch with Chris Speed, Eivind Opsvik, Tomas Fujiwara
2015? Meltframe Firehouse 12 Solo
2016? Away With You Firehouse 12 Octet
2018 Code Girl Firehouse 12 Most tracks quintet, with Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet), Michael Formanek (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Amirtha Kidambi (vocals)[20]

Selected Collaborations
Year Artist Title Label
2004 Trevor Dunn's trio-convulsant Sister Phantom Owl Fish Ipecac
2005 Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone Prairies Lucky Kitchen
2005 People (Mary Halvorson, Kyle Forester, Kevin Shea) People I & Ear
2007 Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone On and Off Skirl
2007 People Misbegotten Man I & Ear
2008 Mary Halvorson & Weasel Walter Opulence ugEXPLODE
2008 Mary Halvorson, Jessica Pavone, Devin Hoff, Ches Smith Calling All Portraits Skycap
2009 Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone Thin Air Thirsty Ear
2009 Mary Halvorson, Reuben Radding, Nate Wooley Crackleknob Hatology
2009 Weasel Walter / Mary Halvorson / Peter Evans Mystery Meat ugEXPLODE
2010 Tom Rainey Trio Pool School Clean Feed
2010 Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up Actionspeak 482 Music
2011 Weasel Walter / Mary Halvorson / Peter Evans Electric Fruit Thirsty Ear
2011 Mary Halvorson & Weasel Walter Ominous Telepathic Mayhem ugEXPLODE
2011 Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone Departure of Reason Thirsty Ear
2012 Tom Rainey Trio Camino Cielo Echo Intakt
2012 Weasel Walter / Mary Halvorson / Peter Evans Mechanical Malfunction Thirsty Ear
2013 Secret Keeper (Stephan Crump & Mary Halvorson) Super Eight Intakt
2013 Kirk Knuffke, Mary Halvorson & Matt Wilson Sifter Relative Pitch
2014 Mary Halvorson, Michael Formanek, Tomas Fujiwara Thumbscrew Cuneiform
2014 People 3xaWoman: The Misplaced Files Telegraph Harp
2015 Secret Keeper Emerge Intakt
2015 Tom Rainey Trio Hotel Grief Intakt
2015 Tomeka Reid Quartet Tomeka Reid Quartet Thirsty Ear
2015 Marc Ribot The Young Philadelphians: Live in Tokyo Yellowbird
2016 Tomas Fujiwara, Ben Goldberg, Mary Halvorson The Out Louds Relative Pitch
2016 Thumbscrew Convallaria Cuneiform
2016 Mary Halvorson & Noël Akchoté Mary Halvorson and Noël Akchoté Noël Akchoté
2017 Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson Crop Circles Relative Pitch
2017 Elliott Sharp with Marc Ribot, Mary Halvorson Err Guitar Intakt
2017 John Zorn Paimon: Mary Halvorson Quartet plays Masada Book Two Tzadik
2018 Thumbscrew Theirs Cuneiform
2018 Thumbscrew Ours Cuneiform
2018 Mary Halvorson with Bill Frisell The Maid with the Flaxen Hair Tzadik
2018 Robbie Lee & Mary Halvorson Seed Triangular New Amsterdam
2018 Ingrid Laubrock Contemporary Chaos Practices Intakt
2019 Mary Halvorson / John Dieterich a tangle of stars New Amsterdam
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References
  1. Chinen, Nate (October 28, 2016). "Mary Halvorson on Guitar: Unflinching and Full of Grace". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  2. "Why Mary Halvorson Sounds Like No Other Guitarist". NPR.org. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  3. Nastos, Michael G. "Mary Halvorson Trio / Mary Halvorson: Dragon's Head". AllMusic. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  4. Clean Feed Records and Mary Halvorson: Promises of Good Things to Come in Jazz, Pop Matters. Jazz Today. By Will Layman. February 16, 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
  5. Nastos, Michael G. "Mary Halvorson". AllMusic. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  6. Lynch, Dave. "Thumbscrew / Mary Halvorson / Michael Formanek / Tomas Fujiwara: Thumbscrew". AllMusic. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  7. "Thumbscrew: Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  8. "The 2015 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll". NPR.org. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  9. "Mary Halvorson Re-Engineered Jazz Guitar. Now, She's Hacking Her Own Code". NPR.org. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  10. "Mary Halvorson: Code Girl". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  12. "Reinventing the Avant-Garde | School of Jazz and Contemporary Music". www.newschool.edu. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  13. "Wadada Leo Smith, Mary Halvorson Among Winners in DownBeat Critics Poll". DownBeat Magazine. June 26, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  14. "DownBeat Announces Winners of the 2018 Int'l Critics Poll". DownBeat Magazine. June 25, 2018. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  15. "Salvant Tops 2019 DownBeat Critics Poll". DownBeat Magazine. June 24, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  16. Dwyer, Colin (September 25, 2019). "MacArthur 'Genius' Grant Winners Attest To 'Power Of Individual Creativity'". NPR.org. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  17. "Mary Halvorson: Reinventing the Identity of the Jazz Guitarist". JazzTimes. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  18. Mary Halvorson Archived June 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, All About Jazz. By Troy Collins. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
  19. Mary Halvorson's EnchantedWood Archived November 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, The Boston Phoenix. By Jon Garelick. p. 1–2. May 31, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
  20. Jurek, Thom. "Mary Halvorson: Code Girl". AllMusic. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
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