Pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and guitarist Mary Halvorson are well-versed as collaborators. Bone Bells, newly released by Pyroclastic Records, is their third recording as a duo. The often stunning set builds upon the fertile dialogue between the Switzerland native and longtime New York City resident Courvoisier’s deft intermingling of chamber music roots and boundary stretching jazz verve and Massachusetts-born and NYC-based Halvorson’s ceaselessly fresh and instantly recognizable approach to the electric jazz guitar. Available on compact disc in a 6-panel gatefold wallet featuring artwork by Joskin Siljan, Bone Bells offers eight pieces and an even compositional split.
With Bone Bells, Mary Halvorson gets the odd numbered tracks and Courvoisier the evens, but it’s striking how seamlessly they fit together. Better said, there is a flow to the set that, when listening blind, essentially undercuts any easy indicators into who wrote what. And once cognizant of the credits, the album’s engaging progression, and indeed Courvoisier’s playing, simultaneously chamber-inclined and jazz-inflected in the opening title track, suggests the two principals were writing with each other in mind, though without explicit detail into the process, this is a speculative observation.
What’s not a hypothetical is the communicative heights Courvoisier and Halvorson attain across Bone Bells. As a recording rooted in composition, the dialogue is more about tone, balance, and the ebb and flow of intensity, rather than the now well-established model of free-from duo exchange, though there are certainly moments, e.g. “Esmeralda” and “Beclouded,” where they do let it fly improvisationally.
But Bone Bells isn’t an abstract bruiser, instead offering beauty moves like the crisp and again very chamber-like “Nags Head Valse” (track four, one of Courvoisier’s). Overall, the set is appealingly relaxing yet consistently assertive and secure in its position at the forefront of contemporary jazz. Of course, the music doesn’t fall back on standard swing notions, so some will question the jazz connection, but those who value the Downtown New York scene’s contribution to jazz’s eternal discourse will understand; both Courvoisier and Halvorson have records in John Zorn’s Book of Angels series.
Halvorson has also cut a duo set with fellow guitarist Bill Frisell (The Maid With the Flaxen Hair, 2018 Tzadik) and Courvoisier with drummer Joey Baron (Live in Willisau 2006, 2006 Catalytic Sound), so the hooks to the Downtown NYC dig deep (as Frisell and Baron were both members of Zorn’s celebrated band Naked City).
More important than categorization (which the sound of Bone Bells ultimately frustrates) is how Courvoisier and Halvorson remain unimpeachable as players. Even during those bursts of improv, there’s a clear sense of control that only serves to reinforce the music’s pathfinding tendencies. Halvorson’s sound remains as individual as ever (by now, firmly signature), and Courvoisier’s combo of European and African American traditions continues to stand out.
If the pieces that shape Bone Bells aren’t easily hummable, they do stick in the memory, particularly so with the opener and “Silly Walk.” Additionally, the compositional acumen encourages repeat plays. Spanning from calm to thunderous and reliably precise, Sylvie Courvoisier and Mary Halvorson have delivered another gem.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A
