Milner on Music - Dec. 12
Building and Falling, Crashing and Soaring: A Dive into Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl – Artlessly Falling
She’s a name well known to jazz and improvised music fans, but maybe not to more casual listeners. But on Mary Halvorson’s new album Artlessly Falling she’s pulled together a strong set of songs and engaging players, making a compelling mixture of free jazz and poetry, voices and music.
Halvorson, most recently seen playing Anthony Braxton as part of the power trio Thumbscrew, is back in front here with her group Code Girl: vocalist Amirtha Kidambi, bassist Michael Formanek, drummer Tomas Fujiwara, trumpeter Adam O’Farrill and saxophonist Maria Grand. As a bonus, Robert Wyatt sits in for a few songs, lending his finely-weathered tenor voice.
Throughout Artlessly Falling, the music makes wild tonal shifts and turns; songs turn on a time from vocal jazz to bursts of noise. Halvorson’s playing is alternately slow and melodic, frantic and jagged, while Fujiwara’s playing at times takes on a ominous, blistering timbre.
At times, the music’s reminiscent of Michael Mantler’s 70s records on WATT: there he too combined spoken word with jazz and employed similar instrumentation. Wyatt even appeared on one. Unlike his records, however, the themes on Artlessly Falling are rooted in poetry and playing, not in a cohesive narrative like Manter’s record Silence, a tribute to writer Harold Pinter.
On “Muzzling Unwashed,” O’Farrill gets to stretch out on trumpet, first as a counterpoint to Kidambi’s vocals, but later in an extended solo. The song builds up to a key moment where Kidambi starts singing vocalize and Halvorson’s guitar winds in and around her voice, her slow lines creeping like a vine. There’s a similar vibe on “Mexican War Streets (Pittsburgh),” which starts out slow and builds to a frantic climax, Halvorson tearing out frantic guitar lines while Fujiwara goes nuts at his drum kit.
The shorter songs are key this record, however. “Wall and Roses” has Halvorson playing jagged, atonal lines against a pounding rhythm section, but it’s juxtaposed against quiet, melodic sections with singing. It creates an atmosphere where the music blasts out unexpectedly, leaping out at listeners. “Bigger Flames,” meanwhile is a showcase for O’Farrill, whose playing makes a stately counterpoint to Wyatt’s voice.
Granted, the music here is a little out there for some listeners. This ain’t Diana Krall-style jazz, folks. But for people with an open mind, and an open pair of ears, there’s a lot here to chew on and this might help turn a few more people onto Halvorson’s playing. Recommended.