Coming to Lexington: Jazz guitarist Halvorson finally getting profile she deserves

Last week, The New York Times published a music guide with the matter-of-fact headline “45 Albums and Shows Coming This Fall.” True to the claim, the story outlined a far-reaching set of recorded and performance recommendations set to be unleashed in the coming weeks and months. It was designed with NYC in mind, but its scope spoke to the country at large.

Here, one could reconnect with Mary Halvorson, herself a New Yorker (well, Brooklyn-er). One of the most critically lauded, stylistically distinctive and wildly prolific guitarists of her generation, Halvorson’s name sits squarely in the Times list alongside such commanding women artists as Taylor Swift, Neko Case, Mavis Staples and Brandi Carlile, as well as such towering jazz leaders as Wynton Marsalis, Cécile McLorin Salvant and Abdullah Ibrahim.

Impressive company, yes, but the inclusion also signals how the awareness has increased for an artist who continues to work decidedly outside mainstream circles. Her primary performance vehicle this fall is the sextet Amaryllis, with whom she recently released the wonderfully colorful album “About Ghosts.”

The recording asserts Halvorson as much as a composer, orchestrator and bandleader as instrumentalist. It places her guitarwork alongside trumpet, trombone, vibraphone, bass and drums and well as her own synthesizer-infused “pocket piano.”

The Times guide specifically plugs the guitarist’s Sept. 21 concert at the long-running Brooklyn-based hub of experimental music known as Roulette. This weekend, though, Halvorson precedes that show by showcasing Amaryllis on a stage far from home — the Singletary Center for the Arts.

“When I decided to become a musician that tends to play music that’s a little bit left of center, I never expected to have any kind of recognition for it, really,” Halvorson said. “I genuinely did not. I decided to do it because I loved doing it. If I get recognition for doing these things, it’s pretty amazing to me still. It feels almost like something extra, something I never expected.

“To play music that’s maybe not the most easy listening thing and have people acknowledge it and hear it ... that’s something I never expected and I do not take it for granted one bit. It’s an amazing feeling. What I appreciate about it, too, is that it gives me an opportunity keep doing this.”

The Times list is merely the most recent accolade for Halvorson and her music. She was awarded the MacArthur “Genius” Grant in 2019 and was named this summer in DownBeat magazine’s critics poll as Guitarist of the Year (for the ninth time) while Amaryllis was picked as Group of the Year.

“The attention is not something I rely on or expect, but anything that’s going to give an opportunity to write another record, do another tour and have some kind of momentum, is really special. It’s a really special opportunity to be able to put something out there that you care about and have people actually listen to it.”

She’s with the band

One of the more curious aspects of Amaryllis is that the group is not strictly a vehicle for Halvorson’s guitar explorations, nor is she the only prominent name among its ranks. Amaryllis vibraphonist Patricia Brennan was also among the recommended artists in the Times list for her own music.

In listening to “About Ghosts,” the compositions bounce about from instrument to instrument. On one of the album’s more luminous compositions, “Carved From,” guitar is merely one of several propulsive voices that bend and morph around a crisp rhythm section, sparking vibes and gliding horn arrangements. There is also a Zappa-esque orchestral quality to the tune’s inherent playfulness.

“I’m not going to highlight myself more than the other players,” Halvorson said, “I really want a chance for everybody to be highlighted in the music. The only way I consider myself the leader is just in writing the music, but then I really try to step back and just be part of it. I like the idea of not controlling things too much, to just write the music and say, ‘Here it is,’ and then see what happens. In that sense, I’m not really trying to put myself forward. To have moments where everybody is highlighted is really what excites me about this music.”

While much of Halvorson’s music in and out of Amaryllis gets blanketed with the genre tag of jazz, much of its experimental nature makes the label somewhat misleading. To further the sense of stylistic abandon, “About Ghosts” was produced by John Dietrich, guitarist for the veteran San Francisco indie and punk-fused rock troupe Deerhoof.

“I love the idea of having a producer who is not coming from the jazz world,” Halvorson said. “I mean, everyone these days can say they have different influences. But for me, I wasn’t thinking of this album so much as a jazz record.

“Deerhoof is one of my favorite bands and John is one of my favorite guitar players, but he’s coming from a totally different place. So, I was just thinking, ‘What would that bring to the music? And how would that make it different.’ John and I have really good communication. I really like working with him. I love the way he mixes the music, which I do think is a little bit different than a typical jazz record — you know, like the way the Deerhoof records sound with all of their layering.”

Brooklyn via Brookline

Though home is Brooklyn, Halvorson hails from Brookline — a city in Massachusetts that is as affixed to Boston as Brooklyn is to New York. It was during those pre-NYC days that she began absorbing the music of one of her more formative influences, Jimi Hendrix — an artist whose music quickly shifted the course of Halvorson’s music, as well as the instrument she pursued it with.

“Hendrix made me want to play the guitar. When I heard him, it was like, ‘I want to do this.’ I was playing violin before then. With Hendrix, I think it was really just the excitement, the electricity, the strong melodicism and kind of the wild nature of what he was doing that drew me in. His music was really cool and really exciting.”

Another game-changing influence came into Halvorson’s orbit while attending Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where her studies — initially, at least — weren’t even focused on music. That’s when she met the groundbreaking experimental composer/saxophonist Anthony Braxton, who was teaching there.

“I had gone to that college intending to study biology,” Halvorson said. “The fact that they had a good music program was a plus, but I didn’t think I was actually going to major in music or pursue music as a career. I knew Anthony was there. I had checked out his music and really liked his music, although I can’t really say I understood it at that point. Then I signed up for one of his classes in the first semester and it just completely changed everything for me. I ended up dropping my science classes by the end of the first year.

Across the universe

“Being thrown into that universe was like was like being placed in a class being taught entirely in French when I didn’t speak French. But just trying to understand it was really exciting. Ultimately, he was just a really encouraging and inspiring person to be around. I really needed that encouragement at that time because I really didn’t think it made any sense to be a professional musician. That just seemed crazy to me at that time. But seeing him lead by example and being part of his musical universe, and it really was a universe, was what got me into music. I can pretty safely say I wouldn’t be a musician if it weren’t for him.”

The artistic universe Havorson works out of now is essentially her own, although its doors stay open to numerous collaborations, be they duo or trio settings (her last Lexington performance was a September 2009 performance with violist Jessica Pavone at the now-defunct Morris Book Shop), projects where she plays a supporting role or ensemble groups such as Amaryllis. But sometimes, a little focus within that universe can be a good thing.

“Playing other people’s music and playing in a bunch of different groups is how I grow as a musician. It’s by being inspired by my peers, by how they’re writing music and what they’re working on, so it’s motivating in a sense. It also keeps things interesting, because you’re constantly presented with a different book of music or a different challenge.

“But that being said, it can sometimes be too much. I definitely, at times, feel scattered. There is something really special about focusing— with Amaryllis, in particular. There’s just a really good energy among these musicians and with this music.”

Mary Halvorson: Amaryllis

When: Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Singletary Center for the Arts Recital Hall, 405 Rose St.

Tickets: $13.49-$31.03 at finearts.uky.edu/singletary-center/tickets