| ⭐⭐⭐✨ |
One of the more intriguing new releases in the modern jazz canon, Mary Halvorson’s ‘About Ghosts’ finds a balance between the mellow and the frenetic. Harnessing the spirits of free jazz legends like your Taylor’s, your Ayler’s, and your Sun Ra’s is no easy feat, yet the compositions here possess an effortlessness that makes some of the more dizzying components that much more alluring. To top it all off, Mary’s guitar work is pleasantly defiant against the rules of standard playing, most notably on ‘Carved From’, employing techniques like slides as a means of incorporating a measure of dissonance. It isn’t so bendy so as to lose its form entirely, but it is enough to create an exciting melodic elasticity.
This is without mentioning the contortionist quality of the rest of the band. Their accompaniments pirouette around incredibly tight and relentless melodic phrases. The drumming stutters and stumbles, making sure never to steal the show; only add to it. Sour vibraphone chord changes rub up against hurried saxophone runs. The most normal element of this collective bustle being the double bass. Humming away just beneath the tension, bringing a sense of calm to the chaos. That is potentially the most fascinating aspect of this album. There is a twisted sense of unity to what is occurring here. For as angular or choppy as certain moments can become, there is a kind of monolithic strength to the record as a whole. A spiritual force pulling it all together.
The sprawling nature of this project mostly doesn’t work against it either. One might assume with some of these track lengths, and with the way these pieces move, that it isn’t for the faint of attention span. Perhaps this is the case somewhere, but I get the sense that if jazz of this nature is your thing, you’ll find ample time for it. Even if you find some of the progressions to be tedious, it all still manages to pack a rather iridescent punch, not too dissimilar to the artwork supporting the music.
The most serious problem this album has is becoming a tad one-note, painting itself into a small corner by its conclusion. This is especially true of tracks like the very fleeting ‘Polyhedral’, where groove-wise it retreads, and doesn’t develop much of a pulse beyond a faint murmur. The title track is similarly unassuming, though its gentle nature is not assisted by any sense of development. Closing things out is the noodly ‘Endmost’. Far from fireworks, it does feature some of the most creative and upfront sax work on the project. This is not quite the closing statement that an album of this level of musicality deserves, yet it does wind things down satisfactorily enough.
A front-loaded listen, ‘About Ghosts’ could’ve used some extra spice on the structure front, as well as a better stick on the landing. There doesn’t seem to be a distinct sense of identity separating these tracks from each other. As a result, this album occasionally provokes a feeling of déjà vu moving from piece to piece. Regardless though, this is still a detail-rich, curious piece of work. It demands respect, if nothing else.
Dan Will Review 