Traversing Orbits: Mary Halvorson & Joe Morris

This Wednesday, November 28, The Jazz Gallery is pleased to welcome guitarists Mary Halvorson and Joe Morris to our stage for two sets of exploratory duets. The pair is celebrating the release of their spontaneously-composed duo album, Traversing Orbits (RogueArt), recorded this past spring. In the album's liner notes, cornettist Taylor Ho Bynum (a collaborator with both guitarists) describes Halvorson and Morris's rapport thusly:

All recordings, especially those of improvised music, try to freeze the sound of a present moment, but invariably melt into the past and the future, real and imagined. Listening to this album, I can’t help but think of the classic meeting of Sonny Rollins and Coleman Hawkins, where two titans of the same instrument across different generations displayed mutual love and respect through stylistic contrast and playful jousting. Or I create a fiction, of Django Reinhardt and Freddie Green crossing paths in some distant hotel, staying up late one night and pushing each other to new ideas. (I don’t make that allusion lightly – for the abundance of virtuosic extended technique, don’t miss the profound swing of the articulated lines and the chunky chords.)

Before coming out to the Gallery, check out an excerpt from Morris and Halvorson's improvisation "Traces of Three," below.Guitarists Mary Halvorson and Joe Morris celebrate the release of Traversing Orbits (RogueArt) at The Jazz Gallery on Wednesday, November 28, 2018. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 P.M. $15 general admission (FREE for members), $20 reserved cabaret seating ($10 for members) for each set. Purchase tickets here.