Guitarist and composer Mary Halvorson has released "Amaranthine," a new track from About Ghosts, her upcoming album with her sextet Amaryllis—Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone), Adam O’Farrill (trumpet)—due June 13. You can hear it here. "Of all the music on this album, 'Amaranthine' is the first piece I wrote," Halvorson says. "In a sense, it feels to me like the most representative of the band’s sound." About Ghosts was produced and mixed by Deerhoof's John Dieterich. Halvorson and Amaryllis will tour the US in September.
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Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer, and MacArthur fellow Mary Halvorson, whose new album, About Ghosts, is due June 13 on Nonesuch, has released "Amaranthine," a new track from the album, and a visualizer for it made by Robert Edridge-Waks, from DM Stith's album cover artwork you can watch here:
"Of all the music on this album, 'Amaranthine' is the first piece I wrote," Halvorson says. "In a sense, it feels to me like the most representative of the band’s sound. There are a few different sections with melodies for guitar, vibes, trumpet and trombone that snake around each other, and it has a fanfare quality to it.
"None of this music has written drum parts," Halvorson continues, "I give Tomas [drummer Tomas Fujiwara] MIDI mock-ups of the pieces, and I give him scores. He checks them out, and then we get together. He’ll play a couple of things he’s thinking about, present a few options. And then I’ll be like 'More that,' or, 'More this.'
"It’s almost like he’s a second composer because he’s actually writing parts. Everyone else has an instrument-specific part already, and sometimes Tomas will tell me which parts he wants to reference, so he’ll ask, 'Can you make me a score with trumpet and bass?' He figures out which parts are going to be most relevant for him, in order to build a drum score. The drum parts, orchestrationally, often function as a backbone in helping to tie everything together."
About Ghosts, produced and mixed by Deerhoof's John Dieterich, features eight new compositions by Halvorson, performed with her sextet Amaryllis, the improvisatory band that also was featured on her critically praised albums Amaryllis, Belladonna, and Cloudward. Amaryllis comprises Halvorson, Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone), and Adam O’Farrill (trumpet). Saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins and Brian Settles join the ensemble on five tunes, including “Carved From,” which was released earlier this year and can be heard below. Halvorson’s last three records were named Jazz Album of the Year in DownBeat’s annual Critics Poll, where she was also named Guitarist of the Year in 2023 and 2024. She won the JJA Jazz Award for Guitarist of the Year for a second year in a row earlier this month. Halvorson and Amaryllis will tour the US in September, with shows in Chicago, Lexington, Bloomington, Cambridge, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and more; see below for details.
Pitchfork noted in its review of Halvorson’s last album, “There is something curiously absolute about Cloudward, whose eight pieces seem chiefly to express their own elegant systems of order and disorder, rather than reaching outside themselves to convey particular emotions or images.” And Bandcamp noted, “Halvorson continues to give her excellent band plenty of freedom in how the pieces come together, producing her most richly contrapuntal music yet. That achievement speaks to the elasticity, presence, and imagination of her bandmates, who built spectacular, rigorous marvels from her malleable frameworks.”
In addition to her three previous Nonesuch recordings, Halvorson has released a series of critically acclaimed albums, from Dragon’s Head (2008), her trio debut featuring bassist John Hébert and drummer Ches Smith, expanding to a quintet with trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson and alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon on Saturn Sings (2010) and Bending Bridges (2012), a septet with tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and trombonist Jacob Garchik on Illusionary Sea (2014), and finally an octet with pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn on Away With You (2016). She also released the solo recording Meltframe (2015). Her ensemble Code Girl, featuring vocalist Amirtha Kidambi, trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, saxophonist and vocalist María Grand, bassist Michael Formanek, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, released two albums, in 2018 and 2020.
One of New York City’s most in-demand guitarists, over the past decade, Halvorson has worked with such diverse musicians as Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, John Dieterich, Trevor Dunn, Bill Frisell, Ingrid Laubrock, Jason Moran, Joe Morris, Tom Rainey, Jessica Pavone, Tomeka Reid, Marc Ribot, and John Zorn. She is also part of several collaborative projects, most notably the longstanding trio Thumbscrew with Michael Formanek on bass and Tomas Fujiwara on drums.
Listen: Mary Halvorson Shares "Amaranthine" From Upcoming Album, 'About Ghosts'
Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer, and MacArthur fellow Mary Halvorson, whose new album, About Ghosts, is due June 13 on Nonesuch, has released "Amaranthine," a new track from the album, and a visualizer for it made by Robert Edridge-Waks, from DM Stith's album cover artwork you can watch here:
"Of all the music on this album, 'Amaranthine' is the first piece I wrote," Halvorson says. "In a sense, it feels to me like the most representative of the band’s sound. There are a few different sections with melodies for guitar, vibes, trumpet and trombone that snake around each other, and it has a fanfare quality to it.
"None of this music has written drum parts," Halvorson continues, "I give Tomas [drummer Tomas Fujiwara] MIDI mock-ups of the pieces, and I give him scores. He checks them out, and then we get together. He’ll play a couple of things he’s thinking about, present a few options. And then I’ll be like 'More that,' or, 'More this.'
"It’s almost like he’s a second composer because he’s actually writing parts. Everyone else has an instrument-specific part already, and sometimes Tomas will tell me which parts he wants to reference, so he’ll ask, 'Can you make me a score with trumpet and bass?' He figures out which parts are going to be most relevant for him, in order to build a drum score. The drum parts, orchestrationally, often function as a backbone in helping to tie everything together."
About Ghosts, produced and mixed by Deerhoof's John Dieterich, features eight new compositions by Halvorson, performed with her sextet Amaryllis, the improvisatory band that also was featured on her critically praised albums Amaryllis, Belladonna, and Cloudward. Amaryllis comprises Halvorson, Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone), and Adam O’Farrill (trumpet). Saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins and Brian Settles join the ensemble on five tunes, including “Carved From,” which was released earlier this year and can be heard below. Halvorson’s last three records were named Jazz Album of the Year in DownBeat’s annual Critics Poll, where she was also named Guitarist of the Year in 2023 and 2024. She won the JJA Jazz Award for Guitarist of the Year for a second year in a row earlier this month. Halvorson and Amaryllis will tour the US in September, with shows in Chicago, Lexington, Bloomington, Cambridge, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and more; see below for details.
Pitchfork noted in its review of Halvorson’s last album, “There is something curiously absolute about Cloudward, whose eight pieces seem chiefly to express their own elegant systems of order and disorder, rather than reaching outside themselves to convey particular emotions or images.” And Bandcamp noted, “Halvorson continues to give her excellent band plenty of freedom in how the pieces come together, producing her most richly contrapuntal music yet. That achievement speaks to the elasticity, presence, and imagination of her bandmates, who built spectacular, rigorous marvels from her malleable frameworks.”
In addition to her three previous Nonesuch recordings, Halvorson has released a series of critically acclaimed albums, from Dragon’s Head (2008), her trio debut featuring bassist John Hébert and drummer Ches Smith, expanding to a quintet with trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson and alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon on Saturn Sings (2010) and Bending Bridges (2012), a septet with tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and trombonist Jacob Garchik on Illusionary Sea (2014), and finally an octet with pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn on Away With You (2016). She also released the solo recording Meltframe (2015). Her ensemble Code Girl, featuring vocalist Amirtha Kidambi, trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, saxophonist and vocalist María Grand, bassist Michael Formanek, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, released two albums, in 2018 and 2020.
One of New York City’s most in-demand guitarists, over the past decade, Halvorson has worked with such diverse musicians as Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, John Dieterich, Trevor Dunn, Bill Frisell, Ingrid Laubrock, Jason Moran, Joe Morris, Tom Rainey, Jessica Pavone, Tomeka Reid, Marc Ribot, and John Zorn. She is also part of several collaborative projects, most notably the longstanding trio Thumbscrew with Michael Formanek on bass and Tomas Fujiwara on drums.
Listen: Mary Halvorson Shares "Amaranthine" From Upcoming Album, 'About Ghosts'
Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer, and MacArthur fellow Mary Halvorson, whose new album, About Ghosts, is due June 13 on Nonesuch, has released "Amaranthine," a new track from the album, and a visualizer for it made by Robert Edridge-Waks, from DM Stith's album cover artwork you can watch here:
"Of all the music on this album, 'Amaranthine' is the first piece I wrote," Halvorson says. "In a sense, it feels to me like the most representative of the band’s sound. There are a few different sections with melodies for guitar, vibes, trumpet and trombone that snake around each other, and it has a fanfare quality to it.
"None of this music has written drum parts," Halvorson continues, "I give Tomas [drummer Tomas Fujiwara] MIDI mock-ups of the pieces, and I give him scores. He checks them out, and then we get together. He’ll play a couple of things he’s thinking about, present a few options. And then I’ll be like 'More that,' or, 'More this.'
"It’s almost like he’s a second composer because he’s actually writing parts. Everyone else has an instrument-specific part already, and sometimes Tomas will tell me which parts he wants to reference, so he’ll ask, 'Can you make me a score with trumpet and bass?' He figures out which parts are going to be most relevant for him, in order to build a drum score. The drum parts, orchestrationally, often function as a backbone in helping to tie everything together."
About Ghosts, produced and mixed by Deerhoof's John Dieterich, features eight new compositions by Halvorson, performed with her sextet Amaryllis, the improvisatory band that also was featured on her critically praised albums Amaryllis, Belladonna, and Cloudward. Amaryllis comprises Halvorson, Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone), and Adam O’Farrill (trumpet). Saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins and Brian Settles join the ensemble on five tunes, including “Carved From,” which was released earlier this year and can be heard below. Halvorson’s last three records were named Jazz Album of the Year in DownBeat’s annual Critics Poll, where she was also named Guitarist of the Year in 2023 and 2024. She won the JJA Jazz Award for Guitarist of the Year for a second year in a row earlier this month. Halvorson and Amaryllis will tour the US in September, with shows in Chicago, Lexington, Bloomington, Cambridge, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and more; see below for details.
Pitchfork noted in its review of Halvorson’s last album, “There is something curiously absolute about Cloudward, whose eight pieces seem chiefly to express their own elegant systems of order and disorder, rather than reaching outside themselves to convey particular emotions or images.” And Bandcamp noted, “Halvorson continues to give her excellent band plenty of freedom in how the pieces come together, producing her most richly contrapuntal music yet. That achievement speaks to the elasticity, presence, and imagination of her bandmates, who built spectacular, rigorous marvels from her malleable frameworks.”
In addition to her three previous Nonesuch recordings, Halvorson has released a series of critically acclaimed albums, from Dragon’s Head (2008), her trio debut featuring bassist John Hébert and drummer Ches Smith, expanding to a quintet with trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson and alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon on Saturn Sings (2010) and Bending Bridges (2012), a septet with tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and trombonist Jacob Garchik on Illusionary Sea (2014), and finally an octet with pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn on Away With You (2016). She also released the solo recording Meltframe (2015). Her ensemble Code Girl, featuring vocalist Amirtha Kidambi, trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, saxophonist and vocalist María Grand, bassist Michael Formanek, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, released two albums, in 2018 and 2020.
One of New York City’s most in-demand guitarists, over the past decade, Halvorson has worked with such diverse musicians as Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, John Dieterich, Trevor Dunn, Bill Frisell, Ingrid Laubrock, Jason Moran, Joe Morris, Tom Rainey, Jessica Pavone, Tomeka Reid, Marc Ribot, and John Zorn. She is also part of several collaborative projects, most notably the longstanding trio Thumbscrew with Michael Formanek on bass and Tomas Fujiwara on drums.
Thanks to Hurray for the Riff Raff, aka Alynda Segarra, for autographing copies of both vinyl editions of their acclaimed 2024 album, The Past Is Still Alive—glow-in-the-dark green and translucent orange—for the Nonesuch Store. NPR exclaims: "Segarra has created an epic tale of life on the road, a nearly mythic version of their own life story that stands alongside other great American musical travelogues ... Career-defining." Rolling Stone calls it "the best batch of songs Segarra's ever written."
Guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson's new album, About Ghosts, is out now. It features eight new compositions by Halvorson, performed with her improvisatory sextet Amaryllis: Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone), and Adam O’Farrill (trumpet). Saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins and Brian Settles join the ensemble on five tunes, and Halvorson adds Pocket Piano synthesizer overdubs on a number of tracks. The album was produced and mixed by Deerhoof's John Dieterich. Halvorson and Amaryllis will tour the US in September, preceded and followed by shows in Europe.
