Halvorson Quintet, Mary

Bending Bridges

Label: Firehouse 12 Records Country: USA

"Bending Bridges is Brooklyn-based guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson's second recording with her working quintet and third consecutive title as a leader on Firehouse 12 Records. As on 2010's Saturn Sings, which appeared on nearly 100 best-of-the- year lists, she is joined by trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, saxophonist Jon Irabagon, bassist John Hébert and drummer Ches Smith for a program of new original compositions written specifically for this ensemble.

"Saturn Sings felt like a beginning," she explains. "When that album was recorded, the band had only been together for a year and we had only played a handful of gigs. Since then, we have played together much more often, our sound has developed and we have become increasingly comfortable with the music and with each other. The more I get to know the quintet, the easier it becomes to compose for that instrumentation, and for those musicians specifically. Plus, over time the whole band becomes more relaxed, which allows us to take more risks during perfor- mances. That's a huge part of why I try to keep my bands together for a long time."

Ms. Halvorson's work with her quintet, which will hit the road this spring and summer in support of Bending Bridges, has inspired critics to call her "extraordinary" (John Fordham, BBC 3's Jazz on 3), "hugely inventive" (John Corbett, DownBeat), "daringly unpredict- able" (The New Yorker), "a distinct voice of her own" (Carl Wilson, Slate), "the most original jazz guitarist in a generation" (MichaelJ. West, Washington City Paper), "a multi-faceted artist whose writing is as impressive as her improvising" (Troy Collins, Point of Departure) and "one of today's most formidable bandleaders" (Francis Davis, Village Voice).

ABOUT MARY HALVORSON

"The quintet setting offers the Boston-born, Brooklyn- based guitarist entirely new harmonic possibilities," writes Jazzwise reviewer Peter Quinn, "and the results are hugely impressive...Halvorson's powerfully communicative music transcends the avant-garde experimental box." The Philadelphia City Paper 's Shaun Brady adds, "Halvorson has been steadily reshaping the sound of jazz guitar in recent years with her elastic, sometimes-fluid, sometimes-shredding, wholly unique style. Her compositions, shaped by a pop sensibility and unconstrained avant aggressiveness, are ably explored by five of modern jazz's young leading lights."

When not leading her quintet, or her other groups such as the longstanding Mary Halvorson Trio and the recently created Reverse Blue and Mary Halvorson Septet, Ms. Halvorson is the guitarist of choice for such notable bandleaders as Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, Tomas Fujiwara, Curtis Hasselbring and Ingrid Laubrock. She also appears on the latest releases from the working ensembles Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone, The Thirteenth Assembly and the Tom Rainey Trio. All told, her recent career accomplishments include earning the top spot in the Rising Star Guitar category in the latest DownBeat Critics Poll and being named New York's Best Guitarist 2011 by the Village Voice among other honors."-Firehouse 12

Mary Halvorson on Bending Bridges from Firehouse 12 on Vimeo.