Firehouse 12 Records is proud to announce the October 28th release of
Dragon's Head (FH12-04-01-007), guitarist/composer
Mary Halvorson's debut recording as a bandleader.
Recorded in February at the label's
state of the art studio in New Haven, it features ten new original compositions written specifically by Ms. Halvorson for her working trio with bassist John Hebert and drummer Ches Smith. She has previously composed music for recordings with her chamber music duo with violist Jessica Pavone and the avant-rock duo, People, with drummer Kevin Shea, but this is her first release alone at the helm of her own ensemble.
"A singular talent," writes AllAboutJazz.com reviewer Troy Collins, “Brooklyn-based guitarist Mary Halvorson has come into her own as a composer and improviser with her trio debut,
Dragon's Head...light years ahead of her peers, she is the most impressive guitarist of her generation. The future of jazz guitar starts here."
The
All Music Guide's Michael G. Nastos adds, “It is an auspicious outing in that her style within the modern creative improvised idiom leaves little doubt as to her immense talent, and resounds in a listener's head with a sense of both bewilderment and satisfaction."
Critics have called Ms. Halvorson “immediately distinctive" (Brian Morton,
Jazz Review), “consistently one of the most fascinating and satisfying guitarists in town" (
Time Out New York) and “a thoughtful and increasingly prominent presence on the avant-garde landscape" (Nate Chinen,
New York Times). “She plays guitar in a way that fractures conventions," declared Steve Dollar in the
New York Sun, "restlessly inventing her own paradigms."
A veteran of the ensembles of esteemed saxophonist/composer Anthony Braxton, as well as such working groups as Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant and the Taylor Ho Bynum Trio/Sextet, Ms. Halvorson has been active in New York since 2000, following jazz studies at Wesleyan University and the New School. She has also performed alongside Nels Cline, Tony Malaby, Jason Moran, Joe Morris, Oscar Noriega, Andrea Parkins, Marc Ribot, Elliott Sharp and John Tchicai. In addition to her trio, and duos with Pavone and Shea, she performs regularly in ensembles led by Jason Cady, Brian Chase, Curtis Hasselbring, Tatsuya Nakatani, Ted Reichman and Matthew Welch.
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