Mary Halvorson
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Mary Halvorson (born October 16, 1980) is an American
avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Orig ...
composer and guitarist from
Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...
. Among her many collaborations, she has: led a trio with and
Ches Smith Gordon McChesney "Ches" Smith is an American musician, whose primary instruments are drums, percussion, and vibraphone. He recorded and performed an album of his own solo percussion pieces entitled ''Congs for Brums'' (2006). In 2010 he release ...
, and a quintet with the addition of
Jon Irabagon Jon Irabagon is a Filipino-American saxophonist, composer, and founder of Irabbagast Records. Winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition and one of '' Time Outs "25 essential New York City jazz icons", Irabagon is known for the breadth ...
and Jonathan Finlayson; recorded duo albums with violist Jessica Pavone; and recorded several albums with bassist
Michael Formanek Michael Formanek (born May 7, 1958) is an American jazz bassist born in San Francisco, California, United States, and associated with the jazz scene in New York City, New York. Career In the 1980s, Formanek worked as a sideman with Freddie Hubb ...
and drummer 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. Halvorson is on faculty at the School of Jazz (The New School).


Early life and career

Halvorson began her musical education on violin but was enthralled with the idea of playing guitar after discovering
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
. She first picked up electric guitar at the age of 11 in seventh grade. Her first guitar teacher was Issi Rozen. She initially enrolled in
Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...
to study biology, but dropped her prospective major after sitting in on one of saxophonist
Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chica ...
's music classes. She quickly connected with him and he heavily encouraged her to find her own expression on guitar. Halvorson's 2008 recording ''Dragon's Head'' was as the leader of a trio containing bassist John Hébert and drummer
Ches Smith Gordon McChesney "Ches" Smith is an American musician, whose primary instruments are drums, percussion, and vibraphone. He recorded and performed an album of his own solo percussion pieces entitled ''Congs for Brums'' (2006). In 2010 he release ...
. Her later album, ''Saturn Sings'', added saxophonist Jon Irabagon and trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson. In 2012, she played with trumpeter Peter Evans and drummer
Weasel Walter Weasel Walter (born Christopher Todd Walter, May 18, 1972) is an American composer, improviser, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of ugEXPLODE Records. Walter's work has been informed by techniques and traditions of music including Av ...
on the trio album ''Mechanical Malfunction''. In 2013, the trio of Halvorson, bassist
Michael Formanek Michael Formanek (born May 7, 1958) is an American jazz bassist born in San Francisco, California, United States, and associated with the jazz scene in New York City, New York. Career In the 1980s, Formanek worked as a sideman with Freddie Hubb ...
, and drummer recorded the first of several albums as the band Thumbscrew. NPR called Halvorson's 2015 solo album ''Meltframe'' "category-exploding", and its 2015 Jazz Critics Poll named the record 7th-best of the year. Her album ''Away With You'' features pedal steel player
Susan Alcorn Susan Alcorn (born 1953) is an American composer, improvisor, and pedal steel guitarist. Life Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Alcorn started playing guitar at the age of twelve and quickly immersed herself in folk music, blues, and the pop music of the ...
(later described in ''Something Else!'' as "the Mary Halvorson of the pedal steel guitar"), cellist
Tomeka Reid Tomeka Reid (born 1977) is an American composer, improviser, cellist, curator, and teacher. Reid has performed and recorded with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Nicole Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, the AACM Great Black Music Ensemble, Mike Reed' ...
and saxophonist
Ingrid Laubrock Ingrid Laubrock (born 24 September 1970) is a German jazz saxophonist, who primarily plays tenor saxophone but also performs and records on soprano, alto, and baritone saxophones. She studied with Jean Toussaint, Dave Liebman and at the Guildh ...
. 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. The album also features drummer Tomas Fujiwara, bassist Michael Formanek and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. The album received an 8.1 rating from a ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
'' review, explaining, "The pleasure of this kind of text comes from the way it invites active listening as a means of interpretation." ''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." Halvorson has also worked with John Dieterich of
Deerhoof Deerhoof are an American musical group formed in San Francisco in 1994. They currently consist of founding drummer Greg Saunier, bassist and singer Satomi Matsuzaki, and guitarists John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez. Beginning as an improvised no ...
. Halvorson had previously performed some of her lyrics in collaboration with violinist Jessica Pavone, with whom she also recorded duo albums. As of 2018, Halvorson was an instructor at The New School's College of Performing Arts. Halvorson won Best Guitar in '' DownBeat's'' International Critics Poll between 2017 and 2019. In 2019, she was awarded a MacArthur "Genius" Grant for music.


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 speaking with PostGenre, Halvorson noted that she's "never really felt like I had to stick with a particular style or idea... From nthony Braxton I learned that it was normal to take such a broad approach. You would respect traditions but at the same time, you would push the boundaries of those traditions. You would break the traditions apart and do whatever you wanted. That approach has always come naturally to me...". 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.”. In 2012, Troy Collins of
All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...
called Halvorson "the most impressive guitarist of her generation", and wrote, "The future of jazz guitar starts here." 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.Mary Halvorson's EnchantedWood
, ''The Boston Phoenix''. By Jon Garelick. p. 1–2. May 31, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2012.


Discography


As leader


Selected collaborations


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halvorson, Mary Living people Wesleyan University alumni Avant-garde jazz musicians Women jazz guitarists Musicians from Boston 1980 births Guitarists from Massachusetts 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant members Thirsty Ear Recordings artists Cuneiform Records artists Intakt Records artists RogueArt artists MacArthur Fellows Firehouse 12 Records artists