Departure of Reason

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Total Tracks: 10   Total Length: 53:26

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Peter Margasak

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Peter Margasak has been a staff music writer at the Chicago Reader, where he covers everything from jazz to world music to country, since 1995. He's also a regu...more »

11.21.11
Routinely upending expectations
2011 | Label: Thirsty Ear Recordings / Thirsty Ear Records

While Mary Halvorson is one of the jazz world’s most exciting and acclaimed young guitarists, Jessica Pavone has emerged as an important new composer. You might expect a collaboration between them to sound like a coffeehouse cliché, but on Departure of Reason, they routinely upend expectations — whether you expect them to be a folk group or a jazz combo. In the past, there’s been an appealingly casual vibe to their duo efforts, but on Departure of Reason they bring a greater intensity, energy and sophistication to bear on pieces that rely on more clearly defined instrumental roles. The shift is accomplished without really diminishing their nonchalant rapport; they still sound like they’re having a blast.

The tunes are packed with surprising twists and turns, juggling multiple stylistic references — a piece like Halvorson’s gritty and aptly-titled “Hyphen” traipses through contemporary classical music, noise, free improvisation and rock, among others — but never in any sort of discreet or dilettantish fashion. Ideas, alternately provocative and logical, are piled on top of one another, either as enchanting, unlikely hybrids or as free-flowing streams that progress naturally. Three songs feature singing, and while neither woman possesses a conventionally strong voice, they… read more »

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They Say All Music Guide

Departure of Reason is the fourth duo album by guitarist Mary Halvorson and violist Jessica Pavone and their second for Thirsty Ear. Given their remarkable history on previous recordings — most notably 2009′s Thin Air — the unique musical vocabulary they’ve established together should come as no surprise. It is instinctive, formal, articulate, and full of subtleties, humor, and — even in song form — unique insight. The authorship of these ten tracks (three with vocals) was divided evenly and sequenced alternately over 53 minutes; the set was recorded in a single day. These proceedings blur boundaries between modern vanguard jazz, various folk forms, and structured improvisation, as exemplified by Halvorson’s Gypsy flamenco-tinged set opener, “That Other Thing.” Beautiful phrases, chord elocutions, and lithe cadenzas in minor modes all lead up to a gorgeous solo by Pavone. The droning viola that introduces Halvorson’s humorously bent notes in Pavone’s “Begin Again” sets the stage for a dreamy, nocturnal, stop-and-start dance that once more touches on Gypsy music, but in a more eclectic folk form. The guitarist’s solo brings out a knotty set of arpeggios that indulge flamenco, jazz, and even rockist aggression. In “Saturn,” the two women’s voices alternate in smoky alto textures on the lyrics with Halvorson’s chords finding the balance between the sung melody and Pavone’s sweeping viola. “Ruth Romain” plays with jazz, even as it drapes a melody that comes from Italian and French folk traditions. “Onslaught” contrasts a pop/rock vamp with classical duet interplay. The elegant spaciousness in “New October” is sharply juxtaposed against wide-ranging dynamics and free improv skronk. “Ruin” begins as a simple nearly childlike song before it becomes a study in formal call-and-response modern composition with structured improvisation added for measure. “Why Should You Surrender?,” another vocal track, takes the set out on a haunting yet expressionist vibe as single strings evolve into gracefully shared chords that give way to freewheeling improv before the stated theme returns to introduce the pair singing the lyrics in unison. The language on Departure of Reason is more refined, and more confidently articulated, than on any of their other recordings, allowing a more deeply etched territory for both these players to explore other aspects of their musical personas. – Thom Jurek

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