The prolific Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer, and MacArthur fellow Mary Halvorson is set to release her latest album, About Ghosts, on 13 June via Nonesuch.

The album features eight new compositions by Halvorson, performed with her sextet Amaryllis, the improvisatory band that was also featured on her critically praised albums Amaryllis, Belladonna, and Cloudward. Amaryllis comprises Halvorson, Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone), and Adam O’Farrill (trumpet). Saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins and Brian Settles join the ensemble on five tunes, including ‘Carved From’, which is available today. About Ghosts is produced and mixed by John Dieterich (Deerhoof). 

“I started writing this record in the fall of 2023, for Amaryllis, and I thought, ‘You know what? I want to add saxophones.’ And I just started writing,” Halvorson says. “It felt like an experiment. I was just feeling ... denser harmony, more horns. But I wanted to stick with Amaryllis, so it felt natural to add a couple of saxophones to Amaryllis rather than doing an entirely new thing; I’d been playing so much at that point with Amaryllis and we were in a really good place.

“I guess I do that a lot. Take something that already feels good and then add an element, kind of throw a wrench in it, and see what happens,” she laughs.

Another instrument that can be heard on ‘Carved From’, among other tracks, is a Pocket Piano synthesizer that Halvorson’s childhood friend Owen Oborn, from Critter & Guitari, recently gave her. “I’ve never played a synthesizer before, but I thought, ‘Wow, if he gave this to me, I should really figure out how to play it.’ I used it on a bunch of tracks, as overdubs. You’ll hear weird non-guitar sounds woven in throughout,” Halvorson says.

“I wasn’t using it to improvise. I was trying to find an additional layer to build into the compositions, the whole time being like, ‘I’ll throw it out if I don’t like it.’ But John Dieterich, who mixed the record, incorporated the synth perfectly. It felt like a subtle layer had settled there, which could almost escape one’s notice. Sort of like the ghost member of the band.”

One of New York City’s most in-demand guitarists, over the past decade, Halvorson has worked with such diverse musicians as Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, John Dieterich, Trevor Dunn, Bill Frisell, Ingrid Laubrock, Jason Moran, Joe Morris, Tom Rainey, Jessica Pavone, Tomeka Reid, Marc Ribot, and John Zorn. She is also part of several collaborative projects, most notably the longstanding trio Thumbscrew with Michael Formanek on bass and Tomas Fujiwara on drums.

For more information visit www.maryhalvorson.com and www.nonesuch.com

from www.jazzwise.com