Mary Halvorson

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

New York based jazz guitarist who's been doing stuff for at least a decade. Thought I'd start this thread on the basis of the album I've just listened to, Artlessly Falling by her band Code Girl.

https://maryhalvorson.bandcamp.com/album/artlessly-falling

It's good stuff, would definitely recommend a listen, particularly for anyone with avant-rock / RIO / Canterbury prog / weird jazz with vocals type sensibilities. And I'm not just saying that because it's the first thing Robert Wyatt's been involved with in a while, although that is pretty noteworthy (he does vocals on three of the tracks on this). At the risk of turning this into another Wyatt thread I love the fact that his voice has become even more beautiful and haunting the older and craggier it's got. According to an interview with Halvorson I read, she didn't write any of the music until after Wyatt had said yes to it. Which absolutely makes sense, as a lot of it seems specifically written with him in mind, particularly opening track Lemon Trees which sounds like something that would fit perfectly on Cuckooland or Comicopera.
The album itself is a culmination of eerie jazz harmonies, melodies that leap and bound all over the place with great interplay between the everyone in the band and beautifully evocative lyrics (the track Last Minute Smears is a very pointed fuck-you based around quotes from sex bastard judge Brett Kavanaugh's arse covering testimony from a few years back). I really like Halvorson' playing too, she's very much from the Fred Frith / Robert Fripp kind of proficient but deeply unusual sounding playing - with some innovative use of pitch shifting effects thrown into the mix as well.
I've only heard bits and pieces of other stuff she's done, including the previous self titled Code Girl album from a few years back, and a guitar duets based album with John Dietrich of Deerhoof, both of which were very very good.
But yeah, definitely worth a listen and I'll definitely be delving into a bunch of her other stuff.

[chveik]

she's recorded a lot of stuff and I've only scratched the surface. I really like Bending Bridges (quintet) & Away With You (octet). really exciting free jazz with avant-prog/rio influences.

her albums in trio with Weasel Walter & Peter Evans are in a much harsher free improv style, they're a bit inconsistent but well worth a listen.

she's also very impressive on Trevor Dunn's Trio Convulsant's Sister Phantom Fish and obviously when she plays with Braxton (the highlight being the Quintet London (2004) live). the album she made for Zorn's Book of Angels series is fine but the project had run its course by that point.

a few links

Safety Orange

Old Nine Two Six Four Two Dies

[Dirty Boy]

Seen her name banded around, but have heard too little from the free form experimental guitar thing to really make an impression, some early Frith aside. I'll deffo give that album a listen if Wyatt is on it.

As already noted by chveik, Sister Phantom Fish is a great album. Quite Bungley. Here's the opening track

Incidentally, do you know Emme Phyzema? ridiculously talented woman and hopefully right up your alley.

[PlanktonSideburns]

LOVE mary halvorson, the last guitarist of interest ive heard.

makes an amazing match with eerie slide guitar player susan alcorn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l187khHMzIs

really like the People album Misbegotten Man also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEbflwQQWY8

[PlanktonSideburns]

oh man, susan alcorn also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2naCknp0kvE

[Head Gardener]

lovely, thanks

[Neville Chamberlain]

Incidentally, do you know Emme Phyzema? ridiculously talented woman and hopefully right up your alley.

I'm going to check out Mary Halvorsen this weekend (been meaning to do it for, oooh, a couple of years now, so thanks for the reminder), but just wanted to say a big "Yes!" to Emme Phyzema, whom I discovered earlier this year. Amazing stuff indeed!

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

I'm going to check out Mary Halvorsen this weekend (been meaning to do it for, oooh, a couple of years now, so thanks for the reminder), but just wanted to say a big "Yes!" to Emme Phyzema, whom I discovered earlier this year. Amazing stuff indeed!

Yeah want to second that. Currently only halfway though the album in Dirty Boy's post but there's some tasty stuff there.

[Dirty Boy]

Emme has released three albums this year, which compared to The Gasman's eight (at last count) is  supremely lazy.