Mary Halvorson | Uri Caine

Shows

A brand new quartet project featuring all new compositions by Mary Halvorson, featuring Dave Adewumi (trumpet), Henry Fraser (bass) & Tomas Fujiwara (drums).

Guitarist, composer and MacArthur fellow Mary Halvorson has been described as “a singular talent” (Lloyd Sachs, JazzTimes), ”NYC’s least-predictable improviser” (Howard Mandel, City Arts), “one of the most original jazz guitarists of our time” (Peter Margasak, Bandcamp Daily), and “one of today’s most formidable bandleaders” (Francis Davis, Village Voice). In recent Downbeat Critics Polls she has been celebrated as guitarist, rising star jazz artist, and rising star composer of the year. Halvorson’s most recent release, Cloudward (Nonesuch Records, 2024), features her Amaryllis sextet, with Adam O’Farrill (trumpet), Jacob Garchik (trombone), Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums), along with special guest Laurie Anderson (violin) on one track. In a 9/10 review by PopMatters’ Chris Ingalls, the album was described as “a shimmering, deeply satisfying example of a jazz sextet firing on all cylinders. Prepare to be astonished.” Halvorson is also part of several collaborative projects, most notably the longstanding trio Thumbscrew, with Michael Formanek on bass and Tomas Fujiwara on drums. Over the past two decades she has worked with such diverse musicians as Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, John Dieterich, Trevor Dunn, Bill Frisell, Ingrid Laubrock, Myra Melford, Jason Moran, Joe Morris, Tom Rainey, Jessica Pavone, Tomeka Reid, Marc Ribot, Ches Smith and John Zorn.

Mary Halvorson, guitarist and composer, has been one of the key figures in the American avant-garde jazz scene for many years now. She is a direct descendant of Anthony Braxton, having been his student at university and, almost without interruption, his young musical partner. Halvorson is a composer in the almost cultured-academic sense of the term: she writes, organizes, and coordinates her groups, which often resemble chamber ensembles, with which she reworks the history of jazz and produces music that is difficult to label. Keith Jarrett once said: "Mary is interesting because of the musicians she has found (...). Professionally impeccable. But the ideas that come out of those guys! They probably think they're playing jazz. But I don't think she does." Who are these guys? One, for example, is a loyal follower, drummer Tomas Fujiwara, who is a typical product of the latest American cultural melting pots. And what kind of music do they play? That's probably the last question they ask themselves. According to the Critics Poll of the world's most historic jazz magazine, Down Beat, Halvorson has won the title of best guitarist of the year more times than anyone else in recent years.

Uri Caine turns seventy this year and his name is definitely beginning to be considered a classic. As a young man, he studied and pursued his career almost as slowly as those classical composers who only set out on their journey once they had acquired a wealth of knowledge. He released his first records (with Don Byron) when he was already approaching forty, but soon everyone took notice of him as soon as he showed his work on Mahler: it was a small new world, light but never banal, and the German Mahler Society rewarded him with an award (which, incidentally, divided the jury). From Mahler he moved on to Wagner, then Bach (the Goldberg Variations), Beethoven (the Diabelli Variations), Schumann, Mozart, then Verdi (The Othello Syndrome) and finally back home with Gershwin (but via Berio and Schoenberg). Of course, Caine never forgot to play mainstream jazz, especially in piano trios, but also to play in Dave Douglas's bands and then in a wide variety of situations, such as duets with both Paolo Fresu and Han Bennink. All situations seen and experienced over the years in Vicenza: this is another reason why it was right for Vicenza Jazz to invite him back, this time for his milestone birthday.