Bassist Michael Formanek, drummer Tomas Fujiwara, and guitarist Mary Halvorson are prominent shapers of contemporary jazz’s forward motion and cerebral edge, and they come together under the moniker of Thumbscrew. Their second album Convallaria is the byproduct of two fruitful weeks spent in the Pittsburgh-based artists in residence program City of Asylum, and it’s a knockout of energetic interplay blending advanced compositional skills and inspired improvisation. It’s out now digitally and on compact disc through Cuneiform Records.
Although Thumbscrew functions without a leader, it’s fair to suggest Mary Halvorson as the most immediately striking voice in the trio’s aural weave, in large part through the intersection of her chosen axe and the avant-leaning milieu she inhabits here and elsewhere. Drummers and bassists remain a constant presence outside the jazz mainstream, but even as the number of boundary pushing guitarists has increased considerably over the last quarter century, the instrument is still not as frequently heard and therefore quickly commands attention.
Many ears got hip to Halvorson through the ensembles of the great composer, saxophonist and teacher Anthony Braxton, as those of modest jazz background were possibly introduced via Trevor Dunn’s Trio Convulsant. She’s recorded solo (Meltframe made this writer’s Best of 2015 list), as the leader of a trio, quintet, and septet, and contributed to the bands of Tim Berne, Myra Melford, Joe Morris, Marc Ribot and others.
It was in the sextet of cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum that Halvorson began playing with Tomas Fujiwara; subsequently she joined the drummer’s quintet The Hook Up and played beside him in the collective quartets Reverse Blue and Thirteenth Assembly. They also appear together on albums by cellist Tomeka Reid, Mike Reed’s Living by Lanterns, and alongside clarinetist Ben Goldberg in the free improv trio The Out Louds.
Having studied with the late drummer Alan Dawson, the versatile and busy Fujiwara has played in the bands of Braxton, Matana Roberts, Nicole Mitchell, Matt Bauder, Max Johnson, and others while leading a trio and collaborating in duo with Bynum. Furthermore, he and Halvorson initially connected with Formanek when the bassist subbed in Bynum’s band back in 2011.
Formanek is the veteran point in Thumbscrew’s triangle; a member of Tony Williams’ Lifetime at 18 years of age, he spent the ’80s in the august company of Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, and Stan Getz and debuted as a leader in 1990 with Wide Open Spaces, but first hit the radar screens of many due to his long association with saxophonist Tim Berne.
Continuing to play with heavyweights like saxophonists Lee Konitz and Jane Ira Bloom, Formanek directs the Peabody Jazz Orchestra and is the jazz bass instructor at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Earlier this year his Ensemble Kolossus released The Distance on ECM with participants including Berne, saxophonists Chris Speed and Brian Settles, pianist Kris Davis, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi, plus Fujiwara and Halvorson.
The above facts and figures, especially when considered in tandem with often mountainous personal discographies, can formulate the false impression that jazz brilliance emerges in savant-like surges and splats, but rest assured this is far from the reality; discussion, trial and error, incremental evolution, and leaps of advancement through intermingled inspiration are essential to the process as musicians struggle to coordinate such interactions.
The two-week residency that allowed for the development and sharpening of Convallaria is indeed a rarity, and the positive effects of the immersive environment are easily discerned across the 73-minute running time. Opener “Cleome” is credited to Halvorson but shows no particular favoritism towards her instrument, instead establishing the heightened collectivity that makes Thumbscrew such an involving experience.
The intensity undergoes a gradual incline and peaks with an on-fire Fujiwara as Halvorson launches into a burning solo; in the second half Formanek dishes handsomely fleet upright before the three reexamine the piece’s compositional strength and then head for the close. Altogether it’s an utter beauty move that sets the bar high.
All three members are first-rate improvisers, but the biggest benefit of the City of Asylum residency resides in how they truly illuminate the high quality composed aspects of the 11 tracks and then extend them with spontaneity. It may not seem so at first, but Fujiwara’s “Barn Fire Slum Brew” is structurally descended from post-bop, setting up a complex yet absorbing head and then letting Halvorson whip out clean-plucked note runs and chords that only intermittently flaunt her increasingly signature woozy and wobbly effects.
If linked to post-bop, Fujiwara and Formanek constantly avoid any sort of rhythm section clichés, with the former’s cymbal work unfurling attractively during Halvorson’s solo flight; but maybe the highlight is the subtle change in focus from guitar to an excursion by Formanek that climaxes in an outstanding dialogue with Fujiwara.
It’s typical of Thumbscrew’s creative give and take that Formanek’s “Sampsonian Rhythms” opens with Fujiwara alone, though the proceedings ultimately waste no time delving into one of Convallaria’s most powerful thickets of ideas. At four minutes it’s the shortest entry here, but not by much as a handful of selections hover in the range of five to six and nothing breaks ten.
The solo bass passage opening Fujiwara’s “Trigger” achieves a lonely tone, and when the guitar and bass enter the picture the whole briefly takes on a similarity Bill Frisell, partially due to Halvorson’s aforementioned unconventional (but not abrasive) effects. Again the triumvirate’s adroitness manifests itself without showiness as the cut gravitates away from the meditative toward improvisational sparks and then a pause for regrouping as the guitar returns to the fore.
With any luck the combination of guitar and some near math-like structural zones will open up Thumbscrew’s listenership to adventurous rock fans; the segmented atmospherics of Formanek’s “Screaming Piha” are poised to further expand this potential corner of the fan base as the bass and drums free-for-all will hit experienced improv lovers in their sweet spot.
Halvorson’s cyclical precision lends an air of suspense to the start of her title composition; perhaps the finest moment is Fujiwara’s lengthy drum rumination in the latter portion. Formanek’s “Tail of the Sad Dog” begins in a more abstract place compared to the majority of this set and never really diverts from the outward bound trail; contrasting, Fujiwara’s multi-tiered “The Cardinal and the Weathervane” opens with inviting bass tugs before taking on an almost prog-metal turn spiked with hints of Fripp.
Hopefully one gets the lack of orthodoxy. From there the trio explores two by Formanek, with “Danse Insensé” putting momentum in the back seat for an exquisite intertwining of expression; Fujiwara’s thoroughly non-trite drum spot is the icing on the cake. The composer’s string bowing at the front of “Spring Ahead” is a nice surprise, as is the rock-inclined finale.
It could’ve ended the record quite effectively, but Halvorson’s rich and pretty “Inevitable” is even more unexpected and brings Convallaria a superb finish. After soaking up their debut (which landed on this writer’s Best of 2014 list) a stronger follow-up seemed highly unlikely but Thumbscrew has done it; hats off to them, City of Asylum, the municipality of Pittsburgh, and to the Cuneiform label for putting this disc in the racks.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A+
