Mary Halvorson, Thumbscrew, with Michael Formanek and Thomas Fujiwara

Guitarist Mary Halvorson has cred out there that is deserved. She plays in her own avant garde jazz style and has been doing so for some time. She forms one-third of the trio called Thumbscrew, whose self-titled album came out earlier this year (Cuneiform). Mary joins up with bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Thomas Fujiwara to make a very potent combination.

The album features compositional material freely treated and that puts it all in a more ambitious context than a free pickup date might have.

The album shows off all three and their special ways of putting themselves across. It also has a real group dynamic going on between the three.

If I am a little behind posting on it that has nothing to do with worthiness. This is a goody. Any serious student of free music/out jazz and the modern guitarist, bassist and drummer should give this one a spin.

I hope they continue their association for a long time to come. In the interim there is the debut album. Listen to it if you can! Oh, I should mention they are on tour in Europe and US through September, 2014. Look them up on the net to see if they are coming to your zone.