Although Mary Halvorson leads the sextet Amaryllis on About Ghosts, instrumentally, she does not place her guitar to the fore. The first time her playing really leaps out on her new album is during second cut “Carved Form,” where it weaves through the arrangement. A guitar solo arrives just over a minute in: precise yet slippery, it complements the early space-age feel of the Pocket Piano synthesiser she also contributes to the track.
The album’s cover image aptly captures the interplay defining About Ghosts. Just as the ghosts in the illustration slip through each other, each player interweaves with the other. As well as Halvorson, Amaryllis – on their fourth album with Halvorson – are Patricia Brennan (vibes), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone) and Adam O’Farrill (trumpet). Here, they are supplemented on four tracks by Brian Settles (tenor sax) and Immanuel Wilkins (alto sax). The base structure of each of the eight tracks is written by Halvorson but what is overlain can be spontaneous. So anyone who has seen the sextet play the road-tested “About Ghosts”, “Carved From” and “Full of Neon” – each heard here – won’t necessarily have a familiar experience.
Appropriately, About Ghosts feels very live. Produced by regular associate John Dieterich (of deerhoof), it is sinuous. Even when the tempo is dialled back – as on the reflective title track with its New Orléans lament feel – an undulating character renders off-balance what initially seems linear. An oscillation. When the tempo picks up – the math-rock-evoking “Absinthian” goes like the clappers – it’s akin to being buffeted on a ship’s deck during a squall.
The title isn’t literally about ghosts, but implied presences. This might be the balance between the composed and the improvised favoured by Charles Mingus or the less edgy aspects of Sonny Sharrock’s spontaneity. Or, that subtly employed synthesiser. The intricate About Ghosts wears its trickiness lightly.
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