Jazz Articles about Mary Halvorson

About Mary Halvorson

Live Review

Vilnius Mama Jazz Lithuanian National Drama Theatre25th Edition Vilnius. LithuaniaMay 22-24, 2026 Vilnius Mama Jazz turned 25. In festival terms that is early middle age. When you consider that 25 years is roughly a quarter of the entire history of jazz, the significance of the milestone assumes greater meaning. The evolution in jazz in the lifetime of VMJ has been hefty. The passing of many of jazz's old guard, the rise and ...

Album Review

Ambrose Akinmusire / Mary Halvorson: Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings

Read "Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
June 1, 2026

In a true meeting of great minds, shared aesthetic, and Nonesuch label mates, trumpeter/composer Ambrose Akinmusire and guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson play intently with their new Halvorson and hand-me-down Akinmusire Line 6 DL4 MkII Delay Modeler, and break the dark silence with the spectral movement of Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings. More laid back and ambient than either of the influencers' past works--Halvorson's 2022 Nonesuch debut Amaryllis and Belladonna; Code Girl (Nonesuch, 2024); or Akinmusire's Grammy-nominated On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment (Blue Note, 2020) and Origami ...

Live Review

Vicenza Jazz 2026

by Libero Farnè
May 25, 2026

Vicenza Jazz 2026 Varie sedi 15--18 maggio 2026 “Dalle trombe di Gerico al divino Miles": questo era il sottotitolo della trentesima edizione del festival di Vicenza--dal 2014 in collaborazione con il Teatro Comunale -nell'anno che celebra la nascita di Miles e Trane, due dei giganti che hanno condizionato tutta la storia del jazz, e non solo, a cominciare dalla seconda metà del secolo scorso fino ad oggi. Tanti gli appuntamenti che dal 15 al 25 maggio ...

Album Review

Michael Formanek: New Digs

Read "New Digs" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
May 6, 2026

Michael Formanek has never been content to anchor a bandstand and call it a career. Over decades of work--from sideman stints with Stan Getz and Joe Henderson to the long-running Thumbscrew trio with Mary Halvorson and Tomas Fujiwara--he has operated as a composer and architect, building rooms rather than merely inhabiting them. New Digs recorded over two days in Torres Vedras, Portugal, stands as an ambitious project via this seven-piece trans-Atlantic ensemble shaped by a precise sonic design.

Album Review

Tomeka Reid Quartet: Dance! Skip! Hop!

Read "Dance! Skip! Hop!" reviewed by Jeff Cebulski

by Jeff Cebulski
April 30, 2026

Spring arrives; along with the typical climactic inconsistencies, the jazz market blooms. One of the early blossoms is a minor label treat, Dance! Skip! Hop! from the cellist Tomeka Reid and her quartet. This could be a major season for the adopted Chicagoan Reid, who is also featured on an ECM album from pianist Craig Taborn, Dream Archives (ECM Records, 2026). Dance! Skip! Hop! Is the album of choice, the second album from the quartet that includes the guitarist du jour Mary ...

Album Review

Tomeka Reid Quartet: Dance! Skip! Hop!

Read "Dance! Skip! Hop!" reviewed by Don Ball

by Don Ball
March 19, 2026

If the fourth album from the Tomeka Reid Quartet proves nothing else, it is that the group has shown a remarkable capacity for getting better with each release. Not just in the strength and quality of the compositions, but also through the tightness and cohesiveness of the band. The title Dance! Skip! Hop! is apt for the album as the rhythms roll along through every song, all tying together like an album-long suite. With a band that tends ...

Radio & Podcasts

Jazz Interpretations of the French Impressionist Musical Revolutionaries Erik Satie and Claude Debussy

by Larry Slater
January 23, 2026

Jazz has had its fair share of musical revolutionaries. Charlie Parker in the 1940s. Ornette Coleman in the late '50s and John Coltrane in the '60s.Erik Satie and Claude Debussy were revolutionaries in the classical music world of 19th century France, and both have been a powerful influence on generations of jazz artists.Satie pushed boundaries with music that lacked bar lines and exhibited ambiguous tonality. Debussy was the first composer to cultivate a musical language that ...