{"id":7405,"date":"2024-01-06T14:45:21","date_gmt":"2024-01-06T20:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=7405"},"modified":"2024-01-06T15:36:37","modified_gmt":"2024-01-06T21:36:37","slug":"cloudward-mary-halvorson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/cloudward-mary-halvorson\/","title":{"rendered":"Cloudward: A Conversation with Mary Halvorson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Philosopher G.K. Chesterton once commented, “There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds.” Here on the ground, architects must follow rigid rules and principles to ensure the sturdy erection of their vision and avoid collapse. But what happens when you work in a place where it is safe for some of that rigidity to evaporate? If once sound restrictions are no longer requisite? This is the environment charted in Mary Halvorson’s second album with her sextet, Cloudward<\/em> (Nonesuch, 2024). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout her career thus far, Halvorson has found much acclaim while forging a formidable idiosyncratic voice. No one is mimicking her incomparable perspective, which can be consistently heard throughout her output. Part of her coherence in vision – even as she continually changes her approach- is attributable to the intricacies of her compositions. Although improvisation plays a central role in the guitarist’s work, equally important are the ideas she writes ahead of time and the direction she provides to others in her groups. This is particularly evident in her two fairly recent recordings with the Mivos Quartet – Belladonna<\/a><\/em> (Nonesuch, 2022) and Amaryllis<\/a><\/em> (Nonesuch, 2022) – where detailed compositional techniques were paramount to incorporating a string ensemble. To some extent, she places those skills aside on Cloudward<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do not misread that. Cloudward<\/em> features great music writing. But there is also more space and quiet than one stereotypically expects from Halvorson. Her choice not to dictate who will solo at any given moment is key to this seemingly new method, as it forces each artist to approach their comments with a little more caution. The other members, the same as on Amaryllis<\/em>, of this sextet – Adam O\u2019Farrill, Jacob Garchik, Patricia Brennan, Nick Dunston, and Tomas Fujiwara – are the perfect crew to ascend with the leader through the ether as they themselves are consummate experimenters. At the same time, despite its more polite approach, the album also refuses to shy away from distortion, effects, and, well, edge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result is musical construction that takes ground rules and stretches them to provide complex ornate sonic structures free of an overbearing gravitational force. Hence, pieces like \u201cThe Tower\u201d where Halvorson\u2019s languid solo – forcibly designed to sound a little out of tune – turns frenetic and then repeats a quasi-minimalist infused motif. The new theme leads to a guitar and vibraphone duet that provides hypnotically mesmerizing cascading waves of gentleness. On the opposite end of the spectrum, \u201cDesiderata\u201d marries hues of chamber music with the aura of heavy metal. 
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Ultimately, Cloudward<\/em> further adds to Halvorson\u2019s already secure firmaments as a composer by uniquely soaring through completely new terrain without minimizing or marginalizing that which came before. While only January, it is already evident that Cloudward<\/em> will be an album floating toward the top of many critics\u2019 year-end lists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PostGenre: Before getting into Cloudward<\/em>, you also have a fascinating trio called Clone Decay, with Kalia Vandever on trombone and Weston Olencki on trombone and electronics. Do you have any plans to record that group?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mary Halvorson: Not specifically, but that doesn’t mean I won’t. We have a performance coming up soon at the Stone, and Clone Decay is a group that I want to continue with. It might be cool to do a live recording together. I\u2019ve thought about the trio perhaps releasing a live album, but I haven’t put any plans into motion. Although we continue to perform as a group, my primary focus right now is on my sextet. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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PG: The same sextet as on your last album, Amaryllis.<\/em> How do you feel the group has changed the most between Amaryllis <\/em>and Cloudward<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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MH: I have always loved keeping bands going over a long period of time. I feel that with longstanding bands, the music always gets better. This band is unusual in the sense that it felt like a band from the very beginning. The first time we played together, I remember being struck by the thought: “Oh wow, this already sounds like a band,” which doesn’t always happen. I feel like there’s a great personal rapport in this band. Everyone gets along, and we have a great time on the road together. But, even so, I feel like the group has further solidified as we have played a lot of shows. So, for me, Cloudward<\/em> is really about momentum and continuity from Amaryllis<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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