Photo: Nick Lloyd

Guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson is pleased to announce the forthcoming May 8th release of Bending Bridges, her second recording with her working quintet and third consecutive title as a leader on Firehouse 12 Records. As on 2010′s Saturn Sings, which appeared on nearly 100 best-of-the-year lists, Ms. Halvorson is joined by trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, saxophonist Jon Irabagon, bassist John Hébert and drummer Ches Smith for a program of new original compositions written specifically for this ensemble.

“Saturn Sings felt like a beginning,” she explains. “When that album was recorded, the band had only been together for a year and we had only played a handful of gigs. Since then, we have played together much more often, our sound has developed and we have become increasingly comfortable with the music and with each other. The more I get to know the Quintet, the easier it becomes to compose for that instrumentation, and for those musicians specifically. Plus, over time the whole band becomes more relaxed, which allows us to take more risks during performances. That’s a huge part of why I try to keep my bands together for a long time.”

Ms. Halvorson’s work with her quintet, which will hit the road this spring and summer in support of Bending Bridges, has inspired critics to call her “extraordinary” (John Fordham, BBC 3′s Jazz on 3), “hugely inventive” (John Corbett, DownBeat), “daringly unpredictable” (The New Yorker), “a distinct voice of her own” (Carl Wilson, Slate), “the most original jazz guitarist in a generation” (Michael J. West, Washington City Paper), “a multi-faceted artist whose writing is as impressive as her improvising” (Troy Collins, Point of Departure) and “one of today’s most formidable bandleaders” (Francis Davis, Village Voice).

“The quintet setting offers the Boston-born, Brooklyn-based guitarist entirely new harmonic possibilities,” writes Jazzwise reviewer Peter Quinn, “and the results are hugely impressive…Halvorson’s powerfully communicative music transcends the avant-garde experimental box.” The Philadelphia City Paper‘s Shaun Brady adds, “Halvorson has been steadily reshaping the sound of jazz guitar in recent years with her elastic, sometimes-fluid, sometimes-shredding, wholly unique style. Her compositions, shaped by a pop sensibility and unconstrained avant aggressiveness, are ably explored by five of modern jazz’s young leading lights.”

When not leading her quintet, or her other groups such as the longstanding Mary Halvorson Trio and the recently created Reverse Blue and Mary Halvorson Septet, Ms. Halvorson is the guitarist of choice for such notable bandleaders as Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, Tomas Fujiwara, Curtis Hasselbring and Ingrid Laubrock. She also appears on the latest releases from the working ensembles Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone, The Thirteenth Assembly and the Tom Rainey Trio. All told, her recent career accomplishments include earning the top spot in the Rising Star Guitar category in the latest DownBeat Critics Poll and being named New York’s Best Guitarist 2011 by the Village Voice among other honors.

Learn more about Mary Halvorson at http://maryhalvorson.com

Photo: Cory Warner

Starting tonight, pianist Myra Melford, bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Matt Wilson will celebrate this week’s official release of The Guest House (Enja/Yellowbird), their second recording as Trio M, with a series of California performances.

This three-city tour includes concerts at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla (tonight), the Jazz Bakery Series at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles (tomorrow night) and Yoshi’s in San Francisco (next Tuesday).

The group will also support the record at the Outpost Performance Space in Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 29th and on an East Coast tour in April.

The New York Times‘ Nate Chinen writes, “The Guest House, the group’s excellent second album, doesn’t feel tethered to any era or dialect. With compositions by all three members, it’s a crisp, engaging ride, variously roiling or reflective, with high-wire interplay at almost every turn.”

DownBeat‘s John Corbett adds, “They all contribute music, and they all equally steer the ship, taking turns supporting, jumping out front and working together. Trio M is as much a piano trio as Jason Moran’s Bandwagon. Which means that they can step into that storied history if they want to, but for the most part they are busy making jazz that extends the creative music lineage.”

Learn more about Trio M at http://myramarkmatt.tumblr.com

Photo: Peter Gannushkin

Longtime collaborators Mary Halvorson and Jessica Pavone will hit the road later this month for a series of New England tour dates in support of their newly released fourth recording, Departure of Reason (Thirsty Ear).

Tuesday, February 14th at 8:00 p.m.
The Brick House Community Resource Center
Turner Falls, Massachusetts

Thursday, February 16th at 8:30 p.m.
Buoy Gallery
Kittery, Maine

Friday, February 17th at 7:30 p.m.
Spaulding Recital Hall
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester, Massachusetts

Saturday, February 18th at 8:00 p.m.
The Uncertainty Music Series
The BIG ROOM 
New Haven, Connecticut

“One gets the sense that the music goes wherever whimsy takes guitarist Mary Halvorson and Jessica Pavone,” writes JazzTimes‘ Steve Greenlee in his review of Departure of Reason. “Their music is insanely hard to pin down: It draws from jazz, folk, rock, modern classical and even medieval—sometimes all in one song, or so it seems…it is an inaccessible delight.”

“Given their remarkable history on previous recordings—most notably 2009′s Thin Air—the unique musical vocabulary they’ve established together should come as no surprise,” explains AllMusic.com’s Thom Jurek. “It is instinctive, formal, articulate, and full of subtleties, humor, and—even in song form—unique insight.”

AllAboutJazz.com’s Troy Collins adds, “each sinuous turn of phrase and abrupt change in accompaniment reveals an ever deeper level of virtuosic interplay. More sophisticated and confidently articulated than their previous duo efforts, Departure of Reason is a masterful example of cutting-edge creative improvised music that defies categorization.”

Learn more about the musicians at maryhalvorson.com and jessicapavone.com

Thumbscrew, a new collective trio featuring guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, will play its first two gigs at Cornelia Street Café in New York on March 11th and The Windup Space in Baltimore on March 14th. The group will perform all new music composed by each of its members.

The idea to work together followed a chance encounter last year in the rhythm section of one of Taylor Ho Bynum’s bands. “It was one of those situations where we instantly clicked,” Ms. Halvorson recalls, “and the three of us started talking about doing a project together right away. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what happens!”

She adds, “I have long admired bassist Michael’s playing, most notably in Tim Berne’s Bloodcount and on Am I Bothering You?, his ridiculously amazing solo bass record. In 2010, when I heard his release The Rub and Spare Change, I was blown away all over again. Tomas is one of my all time favorite drummers and a frequent collaborator. He is versatile, thoughtful, intense and extraordinarily deep in his approach.”

Learn more about the musicians on their Web sites at http://maryhalvorson.com, http://www.amibotheringyou.com and http://tomasfujiwara.com

After a quick detour to New York for APAP|NYC and Winter Jazzfest last week, we’re now officially up and running with our newly expanded client roster for 2012. It is our great pleasure to be serving as the exclusive media contact for these nine musicians and two labels throughout our 10th anniversary year.

Please click on the following links to visit each client’s page on our site for additional information.

AUM Fidelity
Darcy James Argue
Eric Hofbauer
Fay Victor
James Falzone
Jason Stein
Jon Irabagon
Josh Sinton
Mary Halvorson
Myra Melford
Playscape Recordings

For those not familiar with our roster system, this is the third consecutive year we’ll be working with a small group of clients to help them promote all of their performing and recording activities on a per-year basis. This is intended to be a more organic alternative to the traditional one-off system in which individual events or recordings are promoted outside the larger context of one’s overall career. In cases where a venue or label already has a publicity infrastructure in place, we will augment that promotion as appropriate by collaborating with those existing contacts. In short, if at any point you have any questions or requests related to the 11 clients listed above, please direct them to us and we’ll be happy to help.

In the meantime, thank you for your continued support of independent creative improvised music and we look forward to being in touch with you about all the exciting projects our clients are a part of in 2012.

Congratulations to our clients on being recognized by the following 2011 polls and year-end lists!

Darcy James Argue

DownBeat Critics’ Poll: Rising Star Composer (#1)

DownBeat Critics’ Poll: Rising Star Big Band (#2)

DownBeat Readers’ Poll: Big Band (#2)

JazzTimes Readers’ Poll: Best Big Band (#3)

100 Composers Under 40
—NPR in conjunction with WQXR 

Top 10 concerts/gigs in Ottawa
—Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen 

Top 10 Concerts Of The Year (Brooklyn Babylon)
—David R. Adler, New York City Jazz Record

Noteworthy Live Shows This Year (Brooklyn Babylon)
—Ralph A. Miriello, Jazz Journalists Association

AUM Fidelity

Darius Jones

Musicians Of The Year
—The New York City Jazz Record

Darius Jones & Matthew Shipp, Cosmic Lieder (AUM066)

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Francis Davis, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Steve Dollar, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Ed Hazell, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Tim Niland, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top Albums For 2011
—S. Victor Aaron, Something Else!

Top 10 New Releases For 2011
—Tim Niland, Music and More 

Top 10 of 2011
—Stanley Zappa, Free Jazz 

Top 30 of 2011
—Andrew Forbes, THIS IS OUR MUSIC.

2011’s Ten Best New Releases
—Alain Drouot, Jazz Journalists Association

Albums of the Year: Honorable Mentions
—The New York City Jazz Record 

Top 10 Concerts of the Year
—Andrey Henkin, The New York City Jazz Record

Farmers By Nature, Out Of This World’s Distortions (AUM067)

Top 5 Albums of 2011
—Kevin Le Gendre, BBC 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—David Fricke, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—John Sharpe, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top Ten New Releases of 2011
—Kevin Le Gendre, Jazzwise 

Top Ten New Releases of 2011
—Daniel Spicer, Jazzwise 

Best New Jazz/Improvised Music Albums of 2011
—Steve Holtje, Culture Catch

Albums of the Year: Honorable Mentions
—The New York City Jazz Record 

Best Releases of 2011
—John Sharpe, AllAboutJazz.com 

David S. Ware/Cooper-Moore/WilliamParker/Muhammad Ali, Planetary Unknown (AUM068)

Jazz & Improv A-Z
—The Wire 

Record Of The Year (#34)
—Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Clifford Allen, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Larry Birnbaum, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Troy Collins, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Steve Dollar, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—David Fricke, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Aiden Levy, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Chris Monsen, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Bret Saunders, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top Ten New Releases of 2011
— Daniel Spicer, Jazzwise 

Top 10 Satisfying CDs of 2011
—Bret Saunders, Denver Post

Top 10 Albums of 2011
—Lawrence Joseph, Montreal Mirror

Best New Jazz/Improvised Music Albums of 2011
—Steve Holtje, Culture Catch

Top 10 of 2011
—Stanley Zappa, Free Jazz 

Best New Releases of 2011
—Troy Collins, AllAboutJazz.com 

Best New Releases of 2011
—Clifford Allen, Ni Kantu 

Top 10 New Releases For 2011
—Tim Niland, Music and More 

Best of 2011
—Antonio Terzo, Jazz Journalists Association 

Favorite 20 + 3 for 2011
—John Braithwaite, CKUT 90.3 FM

Albums of the Year: Honorable Mentions
—The New York City Jazz Record 

Darius Jones Trio, Big Gurl (AUM069)

Albums of the Year
—The New York City Jazz Record 

Record Of The Year (#19)
—Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Larry Birnbaum, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Troy Collins, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Steve Dollar, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Laurence Donohue-Greene, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Alain Drouot, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Tad Hendrickson, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Lyn Horton, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Chris Monsen, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—John Sharpe, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Jeff Stockton, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top Jazz Albums of 2011
—Shaun Brady, Philadelphia City Paper 

Best New Releases of 2011
—Troy Collins, AllAboutJazz.com 

Best Releases of 2011
—John Sharpe, AllAboutJazz.com 

Top 10 of 2011
—Guy Peters, Free Jazz 

Top 10 of 2011
—Tony Verstraete, Free Jazz 

Top 10 of 2011
—Lyn Horton, The Paradigm For Beauty

Top 10 New Releases
—Laurence Donohue-Greene, Jazz Journalists Association

Top 10 New Releases
—Shaun Brady, Jazz Journalists Association

Top 10 for 2011
—Tad Hendrickson, Jazz Journalists Association

Best of 2011: New Releases
—Luke Stewart, Jazz Journalists Association

Favorite 20 + 3 for 2011
—John Braithwaite, CKUT 90.3 FM

David S. Ware, Organica (AUM070)

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Larry Birnbaum, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top Jazz Albums of 2011
—Shaun Brady, Philadelphia City Paper 

Best of 2011: Jazz
—Bill Meyer, Dusted 

Best New Jazz/Improvised Music Albums of 2011
—Steve Holtje, Culture Catch

Top 30 of 2011
—Andrew Forbes, THIS IS OUR MUSIC.

Top 10 New Releases
—Shaun Brady, Jazz Journalists Association

James Falzone

DownBeat Critics’ Poll: Rising Star Clarinet (#4)

Great Arts Events I Was At 2011
—Janis Hashe, Chattanooga Pulse

KLANG, Other Doors (Allos Documents)

The year’s best jazz CDs
—Neil Tesser, Examiner.com 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Lyn Horton, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Derek Taylor, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Favorite 20 + 3 for 2011
—John Braithwaite, CKUT 90.3 FM

Albums of the Year: Honorable Mentions
—The New York City Jazz Record

Best of 2011
—Antonio Terzo, Jazz Journalists Association

Top 13 of 2011
—Neil Tesser, Jazz Journalists Association

Mary Halvorson

DownBeat Critics’ Poll: Rising Star Guitar (#1)

Best Guitarist 2011
—Village Voice, Best of New York

100 Composers Under 40
—NPR in conjunction with WQXR 

Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone, Departure Of Reason (Thirsty Ear)

My favorite albums of 2011
—Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader 

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Lyn Horton, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Top Albums for 2011
—Mark Saleski, Something Else!

Top 10 of 2011
—Lyn Horton, The Paradigm For Beauty

Weasel Walter/Mary Halvorson/Peter Evans, Electric Fruit (Thirsty Ear)

Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Alain Drouot, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

2011’s Ten Best New Releases
—Alain Drouot, Jazz Journalists Association

Fay Victor

Other Dimensions In Music featuring Fay Victor, Kaiso Stories (Silkheart)

Vocal Releases of the Year
—The New York City Jazz Record 

Best Vocal Album (#6)
—Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Record Of The Year (#40)
—Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Vocal Release of the Year
—John Szwed, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Vocal Release of the Year + Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Laurence Donohue-Greene, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Vocal Release of the Year + Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Ed Hazell, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Vocal Release of the Year + Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Robert Iannapollo, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Vocal Release of the Year + Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Chris Monsen, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Vocal Release of the Year + Top 10 New Releases of 2011
—Derek Taylor, Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll 

Albums of the Year
—Laurence Donohue-Greene, The New York City Jazz Record

Best of 2011
—Derek Taylor, Dusted

Vocal releases of 2011
—John Szwed, Jazz Journalists Association 

Top 10 New Releases + Vocal releases of 2011
—Laurence Donohue-Greene, Jazz Journalists Association 

Top 10 of 2011
—Guy Peters, Free Jazz

Top 10 of 2011
—Stanley Zappa, Free Jazz

Favourites for 2011
—CKUT 90.3 FM 

Favorite 20 + 3 for 2011
—John Braithwaite, CKUT 90.3 FM 

Photo: Amani Willett

Tonight at 8:30 p.m., guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson will perform with her new quartet, Reverse Blue, at Cornelia Street Café in New York.

The group, which began its life back in February as a fully improvised one-off collaboration at Search And Restore’s Spontaneous Construction series at The Blue Note, features Chris Speed (saxophone and clarinet), Eivind Opsvik (bass) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums).

“We had so much fun improvising,” she explains, “I thought I’d put together a band and actually write some music for it, just to try out something different.”

Ms. Halvorson, whose latest recording with violist Jessica Pavone, Departure Of Reason (Thirsty Ear), hit the streets in November, won the Rising Star Guitar category in the latest DownBeat Critics Poll and was recently named New York’s Best Guitarist 2011 by the Village Voice.

Critics have called her “the most future-seeking guitarist working right now” (Lars Gotrich, NPR.org), “one of the most exciting and original guitarists in jazz—or otherwise” (Steve Dollar, Wall Street Journal) and “a bandleader whose composition skills rival her brilliantly unorthodox instrumental technique” (Time Out New York).

Learn more about Mary Halvorson at http://maryhalvorson.com

Photo: Amani Willett

Tonight, Mary Halvorson kicks off a busy December with the first of three European tour dates with the Ingrid Laubrock Octet.

The group, which also features Tom Arthurs (trumpet), Ted Reichman (accordion), Liam Noble (piano), Ben Davis (cello), Drew Gress (bass) and Tom Rainey (drums), will perform at Club w71 (Niederstetten, Germany) tonight, Tollhaus (Karlsruhe, Germany) tomorrow night, and Rote Fabrik (Zurich, Switzerland) on Saturday.

Sunday night, Ms. Halvorson will be back in New York to perform at The Stone with Matt Mitchell‘s Central Chain.

The rest of the month, which also includes the official debut of her new quartet, Reverse Blue, featuring Chris Speed (saxophone and clarinet), Eivind Opsvik (bass) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums), is as follows.

12/14 :: Ingrid Laubrock’s Anti-House @ Barbès (Brooklyn, NY)
12/15 :: Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up @ Jazz Gallery (New York, NY)
12/17 :: Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet @ Jazz Gallery (New York, NY)
12/20 :: Mary Halvorson’s Reverse Blue @ Cornelia Street Café (New York, NY)
12/23 :: Jim Hobbs’ Aych + Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet @ Outpost 186 (Cambridge, MA)
12/30 :: Tom Rainey Trio @ Cornelia Street Café (New York, NY)

Learn more about Mary Halvorson at http://maryhalvorson.com

Another year is almost in the books, which means it’s time for critics and fans alike to start compiling their best-releases-of-the-year lists.

For your reference, here’s a list of our clients’ 2011 recordings.

AUM Fidelity

Darius Jones & Matthew Shipp, Cosmic Lieder
Farmers By Nature, Out Of This World’s Distortions
David S. Ware/Cooper-Moore/William Parker/Muhammad Ali, Planetary Unknown
Darius Jones Trio, Big Gurl (Smell My Dream)
David S. Ware, Organica (solo saxophones, volume 2)

James Falzone

KLANG, Other Doors (Allos Documents)

Mary Halvorson

Weasel Walter/Mary Halvorson/Peter Evans, Electric Fruit (Thirsty Ear)
Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone, Departure of Reason (Thirsty Ear)
Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet, Apparent Distance (Firehouse 12 Records)
The Thirteenth Assembly, Station Direct (Important Records)

Eric Hofbauer

Eric Hofbauer & The Infrared Band, LEVEL (Creative Nation Music)

Playscape Recordings

Ted Rosenthal Trio, Out Of This World

Fay Victor

Other Dimensions In Music Featuring Fay Victor, Kaiso Stories (Silkheart)

More news about 2012 releases coming soon!

Photo: Amani Willett

On Tuesday, December 20th at 8:30 p.m., guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson will perform with her new quartet, Reverse Blue, at Cornelia Street Café in New York.

The group, which began its life back in February as a fully improvised one-off collaboration at Search And Restore’s Spontaneous Construction series at The Blue Note, features Chris Speed (saxophone and clarinet), Eivind Opsvik (bass) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums).

“We had so much fun improvising,” she explains, “I thought I’d put together a band and actually write some music for it, just to try out something different.”

Ms. Halvorson, whose fourth recording with violist Jessica Pavone, Departure Of Reason (Thirsty Ear), hits the streets today, won the Rising Star Guitar category in the latest DownBeat Critics Poll and was recently named New York’s Best Guitarist 2011 by the Village Voice.

Critics have called her “the most future-seeking guitarist working right now” (Lars Gotrich, NPR.org), “one of the most exciting and original guitarists in jazz—or otherwise” (Steve Dollar, Wall Street Journal) and “a bandleader whose composition skills rival her brilliantly unorthodox instrumental technique” (Time Out New York).

Learn more about Mary Halvorson at http://maryhalvorson.com