Mary Halvorson's Code Girl's "Artlessly Falling"

The guitarist-composer-bandleader Mary Halvorson is among the most interesting jazz artists (along with Tyshawn Sorey and the International Anthem stable) to emerge in this no-longer-young century. She studied and learned from Anthony Braxton and Joe Morris, but she's also toured as the solo opening act for Melvins frontman King Buzzo. Her interests are as broad as those associations imply, including both composition and free improvisation, the pure sound of her instrument (a massive 1970 Guild Artist Award archtop) and various forms of electronic manipulation -- most notably a pitch-shift effect she gets with her Line 6 delay pedal, and the gnarliest distortion pedal (Pro Co Rat, in this case) in jazz since Charlie Ellerbee's in Ornette's Prime Time.

Starting in 2008 with Dragon's Head, Halverson's gradually created her own idiom, increasing harmonic complexity in her writing by expanding her basic John Hebert-Ches Smith trio to five, seven, and eight pieces. On 2018's Code Girl (on which her Thumbscrew trio mates Michael  Formanek and Tomas Fujiwara replaced Hebert and Smith), she added a dimension with lyrics -- more art song than confessional balladry -- written by Halvorson and sung by Amirtha Kidambi. 

On Artlessly Falling, there's a new horn section: ace trumpeter Adam O'Farrill and saxophonist Maria Grand, who also adds vocal harmony and another contrasting vocal element. But the big news, for those of us with more than a few rings around our trunks, is the presence on three tracks of Robert Wyatt, ex-Soft Machine singing drummer and creator of quirkily idiosyncratic, jazz-inflected, politically engaged solo records, who five years ago had announced his retirement from music at age 70. His voice's wispy vulnerability has increased with age, but it works for the material Halvorson wrote with him in mind.

It's no surprise to see David Breskin's name in the credits as a co-producer (with Halvorson and Nick Lloyd). Breskin, who's served as a creative catalyst for artists of the caliber of Ronald Shannon Jackson, Nels Cline, and Kris Davis, is also a published novelist and poet, and it was at his suggestion that rather than writing free verse, as she did for Code Girl's eponymous debut, Halvorson used different poetic forms to create the lyrics for Artlessly Falling. Subject matter came from all over: Brett Kavanaugh's Congressional testimony, specific memories of a Pittsburgh neighborhood. Halvorson weaves imagery the way she crafts a musical composition. Her words are full of evocative detail.

Overall, I find Artlessly Falling to be Halvorson's most satisfying record to date. Her tunes have some of the same dream-like vibe as Wyatt's later albums, with surprise written into the contours of her melodies, and the band's muscular instrumental work always keeps things engaging. Ensemble cohesion and individual solo voices alternate seamlessly. Highlights abound, starting with an O'Farrill trumpet solo on the Wyatt-sung opener "The Lemon Trees," with assertive backing from Fujiwara that gives way to a clattering solo from the drummer. 

On "Walls and Roses," Halvorson pulls out all the stops with her distorted sound, which is well integrated into the collective blend. While her own records have always been more composition focused than instrumental showcases, her playing shines throughout Artlessly Falling. So far, my favorite track is "Mexican War Streets (Pittsburgh)," which wends its way through several sections, ever shifting in texture and mood. That will probably change with additional spins. You'll discover your own.