Saturn Sings (Firehouse 12)
Mary Halvorson Quintet
Released October 5, 2010
Top 10 NPR Jazz Critics Poll Albums 2010
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kcdxJ5YJP82o6d07WrNVceTpIPaPZU0Bg
Spotify:
About:
Saturn Sings is guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson’s highly anticipated follow-up to her acclaimed 2008 debut, Dragon’s Head (Firehouse 12). It documents a new book of music written for her latest ensemble, the Mary Halvorson Quintet, which adds fellow New Yorkers Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) and Jon Irabagon (alto saxophone) to her longstanding trio with bassist John Hebert and drummer Ches Smith. These compositions, her first for a band with horns, employ harmonies influenced by such diverse inspirations as Clifford Brown, Sam Cooke and The Soul Stirrers, Marvin Gaye, Thelonious Monk, Alexander Scriabin, Archie Shepp, Dmitri Shostakovich and Robert Wyatt.
“Saturn Sings is a continuation of the concepts and ideas heard on Dragon’s Head,” Ms. Halvorson explains. “My interest in harmony has grown and I’m attempting to build on the foundation of guitar, bass and drums while writing a lot of close-knit and often dissonant horn lines. There are now many other directions to go in, and the horns push the trio into different realms and vice-versa. The more we perform, the more the music gets both looser and tighter; tighter because we are working on developing a band sound, and looser because we are comfortable and trust each other, which allows us the freedom to take chances and to explore within the framework of the piece.”
Track Listing:
1. Leak Over Six Five (No. 14) 6:44
2. Sequential Tears In It (No. 20) 6:03
3. Mile High Like (No. 16) 4:48
4. Moon Traps In Seven Rings (No. 17) 9:25
5. Sea Seizure (No. 19) 5:24
6. Crack In Sky (No. 11) 8:48
7. Right Size Too Little (No. 12) 7:32
8. Crescent White Singe (No. 13) 7:26
9. Cold Mirrors (No. 15) 5:39
10. Saturn Sings (No. 18) 4:29
Personnel:
Jonathan Finlayson: trumpet
Jon Irabagon: alto saxophone
Mary Halvorson: guitar, composition
John Hebert: bass
Ches Smith: drums
Recorded December 19th & 20th, 2009 at Firehouse 12
Produced by Mary Halvorson
Co-Produced by Taylor Ho Bynum and Nick Lloyd
Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered by Nick Lloyd
Graphic Design by Megan Craig
Drawing by Craig Halvorson
Review:
The critical hype that preceded Mary Halvorson’s second album as a leader made her out as one of the most original guitarists today. Indeed, she can lay the strange squiggles on thick, and the rawk shredding on with force. But Saturn Sings succeeds largely because of her compositions, too. Halvorson has added trumpet and saxophone (Jonathan Finlayson, Jon Irabagon) to her core trio (John Hebert, Ches Smith) for many of the tracks here; her music feels grander, more fleshy. Sometimes, the songs bound and even swing, and sometimes they paint somber moods through much chromatic strain. But they make easy sense — not an easy feat in the world of free/out/whatever jazz. This recording highlights this band’s abilities to ramp up the tension, and also to sketch fetching release valves in tandem.
Patrick Jarenwattananon (npr)
