Poisonous Beauty: A Conversation with Mary Halvorson (Part One)

Sir Jeffrey Tate, the first principal conductor of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, once noted that “the most perfect expression of human behavior is a string quartet.” Where a string quartet can sound serene in one moment, it may reflect panic or morosity in the next. As Tate’s original career choice was medicine, it is understandable that he would gravitate toward the physiological aspects of music, but such analysis need not be so limited. Throughout much of the natural world, one finds a paradoxical fine line between the emotional extremes of tragedy and the ecstasy of new growth, which can be spoken through music. Consider even the COVID-19 pandemic. No one will find the over six and a half million deaths worldwide from the virus to be anything other than depressing. But the dire circumstances also gave artists opportunities – ones otherwise denied due to their busy schedules – to create and explore new realms. Sprouting from this ground comes Mary Halvorson’s latest recordings, Amaryllis (Nonesuch, 2022) and Belladonna (Nonesuch, 2022).

The guitarist, also one of the most compelling composers of her generation, long wanted to write for a string quartet. It was not until shutdowns canceled tours and performances that she found the right environment to do so. However, the connection between sorrow and delight extends beyond its mere circumstance of creation. The album titles reflect flowers that, while deadly, are visually beautiful.

Further extending these conceptual branches, the music explores an area between two emotional extremes.Belladonna presents the bandleader with the Mivos Quartet while Amaryllis takes the group and adds five more musicians – Patricia Brennan, Nick Dunston, Tomas Fujiwara, Jacob Garchik, and Adam O’Farrill. The two albums, while distinct, were seemingly grafted from the same roots. Even tranquil moments, as on the dreamlike “Haunted Head” or the laid-back “892 Teeth”, are often provided with an edge. To some extent, this is to be expected, given Halvorson’s general approach to music. As Phil Freeman recently described her unique sound in his excellent book Ugly Beauty: Jazz in the Twenty-First Century (Zero, 2022), Halvorson “frequently does something to her guitar to make it sound like it’s coming from underwater, or being beamed down from orbit.” That’s not to say that a listener cannot find some sweetness on the album. Certain moments on “Moonburn” reflect this well, for instance. But those looking for the saccharine are advised to get their fix elsewhere. Ultimately, the Mivos Quartet provides fertile ground for Halvorson and her sextet to explore the complexities of both nature and art. We sat down with Halvorson to discuss her new albums and how they bloomed.

PostGenre: What inspired you to work with a string quartet?

Mary Halvorson: I think it goes back to my childhood. My first instrument was the violin. While I gave up the violin to pick up the guitar, I do carry some nostalgia for the instrument.I also generally love the sound of a string quartet, and listening to string quartet music is something I have always enjoyed. When used well, a string quartet can almost sound like one enormous powerful instrument,

PG: But you waited until now to thoroughly write and record with a string quartet.

MH: Well, it seemed like the pandemic was the perfect time to tackle such a project. As much as I love string quartets, it was a little overwhelming, at first, to start composing for them. I wanted to give my first string quartet project my full attention. I could not do that when I was more regularly involved in touring or other projects. Writing for a string quartet is something I have wanted to do for a very long time, and the pandemic finally gave me time to do it.

PG: Was there anything else you explored during the pandemic?

MH: I also wrote some music for Thumbscrew, a collective band I’m a part of with Michael Formanek and Tomas Fujiwara. We’re releasing a record in the fall; a 10th-anniversary album. We also did a few live streams during the pandemic. Otherwise, I primarily focused on writing the music for Belladonna and Amaryllis.

PG: Do you feel starting on the violin gave you an advantage in approaching such daunting projects?

MH: Yes and no. If I picked up a violin now, it would probably be laughable. But there is something to be said for a basic understanding of the instrument’s mechanics and how it feels to play it. That background helped with my writing, sometimes giving me some sense of how performing a violin part would feel. I think, in some small way, having played violin previously was helpful. It probably did not give me an enormous leg up, but it was valuable. I still had to do significant research in writing the string parts.

PG: What was your research process?

MH: Well, for one, I took some lessons with one of my oldest friends, Jessica Jessica is not only a violist. She’s also an incredible composer and a great teacher. As I was writing pieces, I wanted to show them to someone who was a string player and could tell play through them. I wanted to notate in a way that was instrument specific. Jessica’s feedback- coming from someone who could tell me what worked, what didn’t, and whether something made sense on the instrument- was extremely helpful. I also read through a couple of orchestration books that were lying around my apartment. Additionally, I listened to several string quartet recordings and followed along with the score. It was nice to be able to get deep into the process.

PG: Your mentor, Anthony Braxton, has done some work with The Robert Schumann String Quartet. And some of your heroes- people like Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall – have string albums as well. Were there any specific string quartet recordings that may have influenced your compositions?

MH: There was a pretty wide range. Some don’t sound anything like my writing but are still influences. I’ve been obsessively listening to the Morton Feldman piano and string quartet album with the Kronos Quartet and Aki Takahashi. That album is an incredibly beautiful piece of music. So is John Cage’s “String Quartet in Four Parts.” I also greatly enjoy Debussy’s string works. And, then, of course, you also have albums like Charlie Parker with Strings (Mercury, 1950). I would also add Caroline Shaw’s album with the Attacca Quartet, Orange (Nonesuch, 2019).

PG: Which brings us to your new record label. Belladonna and Amaryllis are the first albums you have released through Nonesuch. How did you get connected with the Nonesuch team?

MH: Several years ago, the label’s President, David Bither, reached out to me and told me to get in touch if there ever seemed like a good opportunity to work together. At that point, I was in the middle of other projects and didn’t do much with the offer. I’ve always admired Nonesuch and the wide variety of recordings the label releases. One of the things I’ve always appreciated is how open the label is to, really, all types of music. I like the idea of being on a label that seems to take a broad view of music. It’s not a jazz label, and my music is less likely to be pegged as such when it may be on other labels.

During the pandemic, as I was putting these albums together, I felt I was ready for a change. I’ve had a great time working with Firehouse 12 for the last twelve years, but it was time for something different. I thought it would be cool to explore being on Nonesuch. Nonesuch was completely open to my ideas for these records and supportive of putting them out.

PG: Seeing as part of your attraction to the label was its breadth and how you often weave many different styles into your music, what are your thoughts on genre?

MH: I understand that the idea of genre can be helpful for people to have a shorthand way to describe or talk about music. And so, to some extent, I can understand why people use category labels. But, at the same time, I sometimes find them limiting. I try to avoid defining my music as much as I can get away with doing so. I’m not attached to any particular genre. I love all kinds of music and am influenced by all styles of music. It’s always possible I could play something that leans more heavily toward one style or another. But I don’t define myself by those labels. So, like with these new projects, while there may be a classical influence because of the presence of a string quartet, it’s not classical music. And while I have jazz in my background, I’m not strictly a jazz musician. I like being able to operate in the in-between areas.

PG: The last time we spoke, you had just released Searching for the Disappeared Hour with Sylvie Courvoisier. For that album, you were also in an area between classical and jazz. Do you feel your work composing for the duo has guided you with these projects’ explorations of somewhat similar areas?

MH: Yes. The way Sylvie writes her music definitely has a more classical music element to it. Usually, people coming more from the world of jazz don’t write parts out as much and, instead, keep things a little more open. There may not be as many dynamic markings or specifics. More is left to interpretation. But Sylvie’s music is very specific. While it uses improvisation, the written parts are often more heavily notated in a way reminiscent of a lot of classical music. That part of her music was very fun to dig into. For the music on Amaryllis and Belladonna, I made sure I notated everything more meticulously than I normally would with my compositions.

Again, I played violin as a kid, so I was familiar with playing and reading classical music. But I never really studied classical guitar or finger-picking guitar. I went straight from studying rock to jazz. And from jazz to Anthony Braxton and all kinds of crazy stuff. I wish I had studied classical guitar because I do like it, and it could have given me more of a foundation in that area, though I never did. My work with Sylvie has allowed me to explore that area a little more, and it has been cool to do some of that on these projects as well. I enjoy being flexible and able to operate in many different musical spheres.

PG: What was behind the idea of releasing the Belladonna and Amaryllis as two separate albums side by side? They complement each other well but are also distinct from each other.

MH: Well, as I mentioned, the addition of strings to Amaryllis came later in the process of putting that album together. But the reality is that it is not always practical to do performances with a group of ten people. When the records come out, we will do a bunch of performances with all ten members, but we could also do tours with only the sextet or myself with strings. I liked the idea that the two projects could equally exist together or separately.

PG: Where did you get the idea to name both albums after flowers?

MH: It partly comes from how the two bands can be viewed together or separately. The Belladonna, or “deadly nightshade” as it is sometimes known, is the most common type of Amaryllis. The two words – Belladonna and Amaryllis – can stand alone and separate, but it also makes sense if you put them together. Like the bands on these albums, the two can go beautifully together, but they can also thrive on their own.

But, more generally, going back to when I was young, I’ve always been fascinated by poisonous flowers. My father is a landscape architect and really into gardening. Sometimes he likes to give me song title suggestions, often the names of flowers. We have used a few of those titles for Thumbscrew. “Convallaria” being one and “Cleome” another. I had read online a quote about the Belladonna:

“ The Amaryllis Belladonna requires very little attention and makes a truly unique display in the fall garden. Ridiculously easy to grow, all parts of this plant are poisonous, therefore, it’s diligently ignored by hungry deer, rabbits, and other critters.”

Another gardening website says it has a “proclivity to pop up seemingly out of nowhere.” I like the idea of something beautiful but also poisonous. I thought it was a cool way to describe the music. And DM Stith, who made the artwork for the albums, did a fantastic job at realizing these concepts. The flowers on them are half abstract and kind of dark and beautiful.

Main Photo: Cropped Album Artwork by DM Stith for Belladonna.

Our Conversation with Mary Halvorson on her new albums continues here with a focus on her compositional process and their production.

Belladonna and Amaryllis will be available on Nonesuch Records on May 13, 2022. The albums can be purchased on the label’s website as a separate CD for each record or a combined vinyl of them both. They can also be purchased on Bandcamp.

More information Halvorson can be found on her website.