John Hebert

Fred Hersch - Whirl (2010) {Palmetto Records ‎PM2143}
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© 2010 Palmetto Records / Transdreamer ‎| PM2143
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

A couple of weeks before the release of Whirl, Fred Hersch was the subject of a long and chilling New York Times Magazine piece by David Hadju. The article related that in late 2008 Hersch, who has suffered from HIV/AIDS-related illnesses for years, had been experiencing symptoms that gradually took his motor functions away – he became delusional; he couldn't swallow, eat, or drink; and he fell into a coma and began to experience the shutting down of his vital organs. Miraculously, he somehow survived. Apparently, Hersch wasn't ready to die or to stop making music, and Whirl is the evidence, his first recording since recovering from his illness, issued on Palmetto and featuring bassist John Hébert and drummer Eric McPherson.

Mary Halvorson Octet - Away With You (2016) {Firehouse 12 FH12-04-01-024}
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© 2016 Firehouse 12 / Mary Halvorson | FH12-04-01-024
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Guitar

Continuing her streak of outstanding releases, guitarist extraordinaire Mary Halvorson once again shows her determination to build upon her unique style as a composer and bandleader. She's taken her septet from 2013's superb Illusionary Sea and added an eighth member, pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn, and the resulting music is typical Halvorson: harmonically complex, emotionally compelling, and full of interesting moments worth savoring.

The new installment in the ongoing series of New York centered recordings, this time with the stellar roster of Chris Speed, Herb Robertson, John Hébert and Tom Rainey, “Plain” is the new brilliant opus in Simon Nabatov’s singular and rich career. With a background in classical piano, with the immediately recognizable Russian feeling, Nabatov gives here plenty of room to his many musical interests, including his passion for the music of Herbie Nichols, heard in the last track “House Party Starting”. As the pieces go by, you feel the presence of history, the history of jazz and the history of classical music, combined with elements of other musical languages, but mixed and blended in such a way that it is impossible to figure out what comes from where.

Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer, and MacArthur fellow Mary Halvorson’s new album, Cloudward, is due January 19, 2024 on Nonesuch Records. The album features eight new compositions by Halvorson, performed with her sextet Amaryllis; the improvisatory band that performed on her critically praised 2022 albums Amaryllis and Belladonna comprises Halvorson, Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone), and Adam O’Farrill (trumpet). Labelmate Laurie Anderson also is featured on the album track “Incarnadine.” The dual 2022 releases’ acclaim included being named Jazz Album of the Year in DownBeat’s annual Critics Poll.

Methodical design, rough-and-tumble play, and thoughtful exchange are often viewed as mutually exclusive concepts in jazz. Saxophonist Michaël Attias' Nerve Dance, however, obliterates that line of thinking and any potential obstacles that could separate those realms. This is a work that's cultured, contumacious, and conversational in nature. It's principled art unbound.

Mary Halvorson - Calling All Portraits (2008) {Skycap Cap049}
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© 2008 Skycap Records | Cap 049
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Guitar

One of improvised music’s most in-demand guitarists, Mary Halvorson has been active in New York since 2002, following jazz studies at Wesleyan University and the New School. Critics have called her “a singular talent” (Lloyd Sachs, JazzTimes), ”NYC’s least-predictable improviser” (Howard Mandel, City Arts), “one of the most exciting and original guitarists in jazz—or otherwise” (Steve Dollar, Wall Street Journal), and “one of today’s most formidable bandleaders” (Francis Davis, Village Voice). 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.”