Saturn Sings Mary Halvorson

• 1Leak over Six Five, No. 1406:40
• 2Sequential Tears in It, No. 2006:03
• 3Mile High Like, No. 1604:44
• 4Moon Traps in Seven Rings, No. 1709:22
• 5Sea Seizure, No. 1905:21
• 6Crack in Sky, No. 1108:47
• 7Right Size Too Little, No. 1207:26
• 8Crescent White Singe, No. 1307:25
• 9Cold Mirrors, No. 1505:40
• 10Saturn Sings, No. 1804:28
• Total Runtime01:05:56

Info for Saturn Sings

Saturn Sings is guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson's highly anticipated follow-up to her acclaimed 2008 debut, Dragon's Head (Firehouse 12). It documents a new book of music written for her latest ensemble, the Mary Halvorson Quintet, which adds fellow New Yorkers Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) and Jon Irabagon (alto saxophone) to her longstanding trio with bassist John Hebert and drummer Ches Smith. These compositions, her first for a band with horns, employ harmonies influenced by such diverse inspirations as Clifford Brown, Sam Cooke and The Soul Stirrers, Marvin Gaye, Thelonious Monk, Alexander Scriabin, Archie Shepp, Dmitri Shostakovich and Robert Wyatt.

"Saturn Sings is a continuation of the concepts and ideas heard on Dragon's Head," Ms. Halvorson explains. "My interest in harmony has grown and I'm attempting to build on the foundation of guitar, bass and drums while writing a lot of close-knit and often dissonant horn lines. There are now many other directions to go in, and the horns push the trio into different realms and vice-versa. The more we perform, the more the music gets both looser and tighter; tighter because we are working on developing a band sound, and looser because we are comfortable and trust each other, which allows us the freedom to take chances and to explore within the framework of the piece."

"..her sonic outbursts are tempered by compositions that are highly intelligent and harmonically sophisticated, full of nuance, beauty and the sound of surprise...the harmonies and interwoven lines that she constructs for trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson and alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon, both potent soloists, add layers of depth to this startlingly original and thoughtful music. This is easily one of the most provocative and fascinating releases of 2010." (Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes)

"It's the concentrated emotional content of the group that makes this one of the more original and accomplished releases of the year, from the support of Hebert and Smith to Finlayson's brassy shimmering lines and Irabagon's more exploratory playing. Halvorson already has a reputation as the most interesting guitarist to arrive in jazz circles in the past decade. This CD is only likely to enhance that view, as Halvorson fuses advanced harmony with quartertones." (Stuart Broomer, AllAboutJazz)

"The quintet setting offers the Boston-born, Brooklyn-based guitarist entirely new harmonic possibilities, and the results are hugely impressive. What's especially intriguing about Halvorson's music is how little it seems to owe to the jazz guitar tradition. Whether it's the creative use of silence to break up phrases (album opener 'Leak Over Six Five'), the adroit juxtaposition of notated and free episodes ('Mile High Like'), the sudden switching from the dirtiest, Nirvana-like opening riff to the most delicately articulated melodic line ('Sea Seizure'), or the understated surprise of a sorrowing chorale ('Crack In Sky'), Halvorson's powerfully communicative music transcends the avant-garde experimental box." (Peter Quinn, Jazzwise)

Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet
Jon Irabagon, alto saxophone
Mary Halvorson, guitar
John Hebert, bass
Ches Smith, drums

Recorded December 19th & 20th, 2009 at Firehouse 12
Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered by Nick Lloyd
Produced by Mary Halvorson

Mary Halvorson
One of improvised music’s most in-demand guitarists, Mary Halvorson has been active in New York since 2002, following jazz studies at Wesleyan University and the New School. Critics have called her “a singular talent” (Lloyd Sachs, JazzTimes), ”NYC’s least-predictable improviser” (Howard Mandel, City Arts), “one of the most exciting and original guitarists in jazz—or otherwise” (Steve Dollar, Wall Street Journal), and “one of today’s most formidable bandleaders” (Francis Davis, Village Voice). 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.”

After three years of study with visionary composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton, Ms. Halvorson became an active member of several of his bands, including his trio, septet and 12+1tet. To date, she appears on over ten of Mr. Braxton’s recordings. Ms. Halvorson has also performed alongside iconic guitarist Marc Ribot, in his bands Sun Ship and The Young Philadelphians, and with the bassist Trevor Dunn in his Trio-Convulsant. Over the past decade she has worked with such diverse bandleaders as Tim Berne, Taylor Ho Bynum, Tomas Fujiwara, Ingrid Laubrock, Jason Moran, Joe Morris, Tom Rainey, Tomeka Reid and John Zorn.

As a bandleader and composer, one of Ms. Halvorson’s primary outlets is her longstanding trio, featuring bassist John Hébert and drummer Ches Smith. Since their 2008 debut album, Dragon’s Head, the band was recognized as a rising star jazz band by Downbeat Magazine for five consecutive years. Most recently she has formed an octet, adding trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, saxophonists Jon Irabagon and Ingrid Laubrock, trombonist Jacob Garchik, and pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn. Their debut 2016 release, Away With You, on the Firehouse 12 Record label, was called “radiant” by the New York Times and “one of the most intricate and entrancing sets of her career” by Pitchfork. Ms. Halvorson is also a part of several collaborative projects including Thumbscrew (with Michael Formanek and Tomas Fujiwara), Secret Keeper (with Stephan Crump), a chamber-jazz duo with violist Jessica Pavone, and the avant-rock band People.

This album contains no booklet.