Mary Halvorson: Code Girl
Firehouse 12 Records

At a glance, Mary Halvorson's Code Girl might appear radically different from the NYC-based guitarist's other projects, but in supplementing Thumbscrew members Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara with two others it's maybe not as huge a departure as it might seem. Yet if on paper the difference appears modest, in practice it's substantial when the two additions are trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and vocalist Amirtha Kidambi. Generally, any time a vocalist enters the picture, the scenery changes dramatically; consider, for example, the shift in Ornette's music with Asha Puthli added to Science Fiction or how different Air sounds when Cassandra Wilson joins the trio on Air Show No. 1.

Not only does the vocal element introduce a fundamental contrast to the instrumental sounds, the words Kidambi sings also add an extra layer to the project. Much like her music, Halvorson's lyrics are idiosyncratic, her words coming at a subject in unpredictable and oblique ways (e.g., “Do not forget your head / In the back of your mind” from “Storm Cloud”). An additional consequence is that having Akinmusire and Kidambi aboard means there's less pressure on Halvorson as the sole lead voice; with trumpet as a second lead instrument and Kidambi singing, the guitarist is able to alternate between lead and support roles. Admirers of her guitar work needn't worry, however, as it's in ample supply throughout; if her playing's restrained in some pieces, others see the guitarist shredding with ferocity.

Having played with Halvorson for years, Formanek and Fujiwara are comfortable performing her demanding charts, but the new faces also meet the considerable challenge of executing the complex structures and angular melodies. During some of the quieter passages (in the vocal-guitar setting “Accurate Hit” and the opening of “Storm Cloud,” for example), Kidambi's voice takes on a silky lustre that, oddly enough, isn't worlds removed from K. D. Lang's, but she can also be aggressive when the material demands it. For his part, Akinmusire dishes out solos both lyrical and blustery, his smooth attack a seamless fit in this context, while Formanek and Fujiwara provide sterling support throughout, the two imposing themselves on the material but not so much that they overwhelm the others (see “Pretty Mountain”).

As it was on last year's octet recording Away With You, Halvorson's writing is in top form, with tunes such as “Possibility of Lightning,” “Drop the Needle,” and “The Beast” capturing her gift for blending unusual melodic directions and intricate band interplay with rhythmic forcefulness. The opening section in the ten-minute “Storm Cloud” proves especially arresting in the way Halvorson's tremolo-laden picking and Formanek's bowing accompany Kidambi's haunting vocal. Thumbscrew fans will be pleased to discover that “The Unexpected Natural Phenomenon” sees the band strip down midway through the eleven-minute piece for an extended trio section. Halvorson mixes things up on the album, too, in working a few non-vocal tracks into the set-list, with “Off the Record” and “Thunderhead” playing like cubistic takes on boppish swing and the penultimate “Armory Beams” a minute-long duet by the trumpeter and guitarist.

However different the new album's presentation is from her previous recordings, a clear through-line connects them to Code Girl, specifically her penchant for intertwining arrangements and compositions that are meticulously mapped out yet still allow room for improvisation. Weighing in at about ninety minutes, the release is longer than most in Halvorson's discography, and wisely the fourteen tracks have been spread across two discs. When material of such density and detail is presented, it's better digested in at least two sittings rather than all at once.

When one considers how difficult it is to create an original voice on the guitar, Halvorson surprises by having done so without even seemingly trying. By simply following her instincts and staying true to the path she's unwaveringly pursued, a style unlike anyone else's has emerged. As “Off the Record” and “The Unexpected Natural Phenomenon” so memorably show, notes seem to melt in her hands, her attack veering from precisely delineated single-note patterns to scrabbling flurries and bent notes, her playing equally informed by intuition and formal training. It's tempting to call her the Francis Bacon of the guitar when such note twisting recalls the painter's own mangling of faces and bodies, but doing so would be too limiting; that penchant for distortion and re-shaping is, after all, but one facet of her style.

April 2018