By Don Phipps

Guitarist and composer Mary Halvorson has turn out to be a mainstay of the free
music scene – her albums successful accolades for his or her modern
compositions and difficult abstractions. Cloudward isn’t any exception –
with eight compositions whose musical concepts appear by no means to the touch the bottom,
however want, as an alternative, to droop themselves in mid-air.

Her selection of bandmates on this outing definitely assist to make this occur.
Along with Halvorson, the sextet is comprised of Tomas Fujiwara on
drums, Nick Dunston on bass,

Jacob Garchik on trombone, Adam O’Farrill on trumpet,

and Patricia Brennan on vibraphone. The band is giant sufficient so as to add
colourful voicings to the outing but sufficiently small that every musician has the
area to contribute. The sextet is even joined on “Incarnadine” by Laurie
Anderson, who chips in on violin.

The dissonant and summary tunes aren’t harsh or troublesome. As a substitute, they
are seasoned with simply sufficient sauce to offer a tasty gumbo of sounds and
results. Every has its personal fascinating themes and there’s loads of
counterpoint to determine these themes in intelligent and engaging methods.

One can marvel on the method the group navigates the compositions each
collectively and aside. Take the primary quantity, “The Gate,” the place Halvorson and
O’Farrill open with joint guitar and trumpet over Dunston’s partaking bass.
Or the summary selecting and electronics Halvorson makes use of on “The Tower,”
which migrates into Brennan’s mild vibraphone phrases. Because the tune
progresses, the music appears to disassociate, virtually like a tapestry
unraveling into completely different strands.

For selection, there’s the industrial rock present in “Desiderata,” with its
digital distortions and cascading guitar notes juxtaposed towards the
vibraphone arc, as Brennan’s traces pilot the turbulence like a moth flying
in circles round some distant gentle. Fujiwara drives the bus ahead with
some glorious drum work beneath the eerie guitar and dream-like
vibraphone phrases.

Maybe probably the most fascinating quantity is the ultimate one – “Ultramarine,”
Dotson opens the piece with adroit maneuvering on the bass and he’s joined
by Halvorson, whose twangy tones sound virtually banjo-like. Because the quantity
strikes ahead, it develops a mild swing, highlighted by the summary
bluesy chords created by Garchik’s trombone and O’Farrill’s trumpet atop
Halverson’s arpeggios. O’Farrill’s contribution is especially noteworthy
– as his trumpet slides up and down the registers like butter on a scorching
skillet.

There’s extra in fact – from the odd time meter employed in “Unscrolling”
to the discombobulated Alice-down-the-rabbit-hole results generated by the
group on “Incarnadine.” Cloudward definitely shows Halvorson and
colleagues at their finest – a shocking exhibition of musical concepts and fluid
musicianship.