Mary Halvorson was the picture of calm at the Greenwich Village club Le Poisson Rouge on a recent evening, slouched intently over her big hollow-body guitar. But the music she was making, with the violist Jessica Pavone, buzzed and bristled.
Ms. Halvorson, 28, has built a name as a guitarist in new-music circles, largely through an association with the celebrated multireedist and composer Anthony Braxton. And she has proved herself a judicious composer, in the duo with Ms. Pavone and in People, a willfully eccentric rock band.
Marys reputation among musicians is beyond stellar, said Taylor Ho Bynum, a cornetist and composer who features Ms. Halvorson in his sextet. Whatever your personal aesthetic, you have to recognize the clarity of her ideas, her sound and her technique.
Now with Dragons Head released last week on Firehouse 12, an upstart label partly run by Mr. Bynum Ms. Halvorson is poised to reach well beyond an experimental base. The album features her music for a flexible trio with the drummer Ches Smith and the bassist John Hebert. More than an auspicious debut, it is among this years standout jazz albums and one of the more original recent statements by any jazz guitarist, let alone a female jazz guitarist.
That distinction calls for some qualification, though. I dont enjoy jazz guitar in general, Ms. Halvorson said the day after her gig with Ms. Pavone. I dont enjoy listening to a lot of it. I dont enjoy the tone. In general Ive found its role in jazz to be kind of difficult.
Sipping decaf at a cafe in TriBeCa, Ms. Halvorson spoke introspectively but assertively about her music. I knew I wanted something sort of based in jazz, she said of the album, but hopefully not with traditional forms and structures. And not too rigid; I wanted to leave things somewhat open. And I wanted something that had driving energy. And I felt that both John and Ches could do that.
Mr. Smith, who plays with the indie-rock band Xiu Xiu as well as Ceramic Dog, a project of the guitarist Marc Ribot, has an extensive history with Ms. Halvorson. (They have toured as a duo and with Trio Convulsant, an aptly named band led by the bassist Trevor Dunn.) Mr. Hebert has a more conventional jazz background; Ms. Halvorson first heard him playing with the pianist Andrew Hill, who died last year. His sound on bass was exactly what I was looking for, she said. And I wanted somebody who was really great harmonically and open to other stuff, too. With her personnel set, she began composing for the group.
