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Owen McNally writes about jazz and other music events in Connecticut's Jazz Corridor, stretching from the tip of Fairfield County, right through New Haven and Hartford, and on up beyond the state into the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. Keep up with the best our area has to offer in music.

Guitar Wizardry Rules in New Haven; Jazzy Halloween Spirit Reigns in Torrington

Peter Gannushkin
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downtownmusic.net
Jessica Pavone, left, and Mary Halvorson.
Mary Halverson's style in chamber jazz collaborations has been described as everything from "pointillistic" to "fragmented."

Devotees of the ruggedly individualistic, inexhaustibly creative Mary Halvorsonhave much to celebrate and cogitate upon as the rising, young, cutting-edge guitarist presents solo explorations at 8:30 and 10:00 pm on November 7 at New Haven’s Firehouse 12, 45 Crown Street.

Here’s an opportunity to hear this original artist -- a musician who has played in various configurations with her own chamber ensembles and as a side person with a host of new music luminaries -- up close and personal in the intimate ambience and fine acoustical setting provided by Firehouse 12, a thriving urban outpost for the avant-garde.

Rather modestly, an advance notice billed the concerts this way: “Mary Halvorson’s solo project is a standards project of sorts. She will be doing a variety of arrangements and interpretations, featuring compositions by Ornette Coleman, Noel Ackchote, Annette Peacock, Carla Bley, Thelonious Monk,Tomas Fujiwara, Chris Lightcap, Oliver Nelson, and others.”

Halvorson's conversations with herself, even on the most familiar material will, no doubt, be anything but standard, except of course for whatever high standard she sets for herself in the moment as an improviser and composer. Her style in chamber jazz collaborations has been described as everything from “pointillistic” to “fragmented,” her solo playing rings with rich textures resonating from a hollow body Guild guitar, garnished with ornamental variety from a few effects pedals.

Although Halvorson's playing is sometimes described as if it were stark, even snarky minimalism, or as abstruse as a Gertrude Stein passage, it is alive, interactive, and inventive in chamber settings, as in her stimulating dialogues with violist/violinist/bassist Jessica Pavone

Over the past few years, Halvorson has been honing her solo performance chops, a different context from ensemble playing, a different challenge with a unique set of demands. What’s constant for Halvorson, among the variables of solo playing, is her own distinctive voice with its own constantly replenishing palette.

Free of a cappellaphobia -- an affliction that might intimidate lesser spirits who shine best only in ensembles -- Halvorson makes the sort of fine-tuning adjustments all soloists have to make, while at the same time maintaining her signature element of constant surprise as part of an overall, convention-defying strategy.

On a venerable standard like “Some Day My Prince Will Come,” for example, Halvorson might play an intro that initially evokes classical or even modern jazz guitar textures and fleet figures, and then pivot on to something completely different. The only thing you can actually expect from Halvorson’s imagistic playing is the unexpected as she zigzags in new, angular, surprising directions, spontaneously sculpting individual notes and tones and twisting themes unwinding into unconventional variations.

Halvorson, a 2002 graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, returns for another encore at Firehouse 12, a familiar stomping ground where she has performed at least 15 times and recorded four albums on the venue’s own label. She’s back after touring Europe with her quintet from October 23 to October 29, with whirlwind performances in Germany, Sweden, Italy, Serbia, and Austria.

The night before the New Haven date, Halvorson has a gig on November 6 at Brooklyn’s Firehouse Space with Dan Blake, saxophone, andSam Pluta, electronics.

At Halvorson's Firehouse solo shows, the visionary guitarist ventures into her world of solo guitar. Days prior to that appearance, she’ll be recording in the Firehouse studio for a new release. Her live performance will also be recorded for potential inclusion in the upcoming album, Firehouse spokesman Carl Testa said. There’s no projected release date yet. Tickets: $20.00 first set; $15.00 second set. Information: firehouse12.comand (203) 785-0468.

McPhee Up Next at Firehouse

Upcoming more immediately at Firehouse 12, the veteran free jazz, saxophonist/trumpeter Joe McPheeleads his trio at 8:30 and 10:00 pm on Friday, October 31, joined by cellist Daniel Levin and drummer Chris Corsano.

Credit Spritzer / Creative Commons
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Creative Commons
Joe McPhee

In a career spanning some 50 years, McPhee, who turns 75 on November 3, has made more than 100 recordings and continues to tour internationally. Most recently, he recorded a live duo album at Norway’s Kongsberg Jazz Festival with British saxophonist Evan Parker, a venerable figure on the European free jazz scene. Ticket information the same as above for Mary Halvorson's performances at Firehouse 12.

The interior of Studio 59 in Torrington.
Credit Timothy Alexandre Wallace
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Timothy Alexandre Wallace
The interior of Studio 59 in Torrington.

Studio 59’s Jazz Macabre

If you’re looking for an offbeat yet upbeat way to celebrate Halloween with jazz-inspired, mirthfully morbid music played in one of Connecticut’s most whimsically curious venues, then Studio 59 in Torrington is definitely the place to be on the night before Halloween.

The exterior of Studio 59 in Torrington.
Credit Timothy Alexandre Wallace
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Timothy Alexandre Wallace
The exterior of Studio 59 in Torrington.
A scene inside Studio 59.
Credit Timothy Alexandre Wallace
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Timothy Alexandre Wallace
A scene inside Studio 59.

Nestled in a converted 19th-century church decorated with a vernacular Gothic façade reminiscent of Grant Wood’s iconic painting, American Gothic, Studio 59 -- a warm, intimate performance center with an Addams Family aura -- hosts a pre-Halloween concert at 7:30 pm on Thursday, October 30, rather chillingly titled "Jazz Macabre: A Dark Evening with the Grim String Quartet."

The Grim String Quartet will play otherworldly themes associated with Halloween in the vibrant style of French Gypsy jazz, serving a zesty pre-Halloween brew of cool plus ghoul, a musical communion of sorts with the dearly departed spirits of Gypsy jazz guitar genius Django Reinhardtand the grand maestro of mystery and mayhem, Alfred Hitchcock.

Appropriately enough, one of the pieces the Grim String Quartet will exhume in its own merrily macabre manner is the 19th-century French composer Charles Gounod’s the “Funeral March of a Marionette,” perhaps best known since the mid-1950s as the familiar theme for the classic TV series, “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” French Gypsy jazz energies will also resurrect such Halloween-appropriate compositions as Chopin’s “Funeral March” and Saint-Saens’ “Danse Macabre,” all performed with what is described “as jazz standards with an air of holiday mischief.” The spirit-raising music will be generated by four regional string musicians: Preston Parish,Jonathan Talbott, Kip Beacco, and Joe Salamone.

Timothy Alexandre Wallace.
Credit Timothy Alexandre Wallace
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Timothy Alexandre Wallace
Timothy Alexandre Wallace.

Timothy Alexandre Wallace, the colorful, imaginative founder and owner of Studio 59, has over the past eight years transformed the quaint, historic church building, which was constructed in 1888, into his dream version of an 18th-century European drawing room stocked with an eclectic mix of antiques, fascinating tchotchkes and elegant wingback chairs for the comfort and pleasure of every member of its maximum capacity audience of 50 patrons.

The 16-foot-high, barrel-vaulted, plaster ceiling looks down on the cozy, idiosyncratic room below, which is elaborately furnished and decorated with a marvelous clutter of objects including Tiffany-style lamps, small statues attached to the walls; Victorian tapestries, a chandelier out of an old horror flick; and a menagerie of figurines looking right back at you quite boldly. All of it creates a home museum-like ambience with its mix of pretty, even beautiful or just plainly odd objects for your visual delight. 

The interior of Studio 59, with Wallace at the piano.
Credit Timothy Alexandre Wallace
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Timothy Alexandre Wallace
The interior of Studio 59, with Wallace at the piano.
The interior of Studio 59.
Credit Timothy Alexandre Wallace
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Timothy Alexandre Wallace
The interior of Studio 59.

Wallace, the grand auteur of the narrative spelled out by the décor in the room, even controls the feeling generated by its lighting, which emanates mostly from an array of lamps with red shades through which glow amber bulbs creating a warm, soothing glow in the storybook setting.

Wallace is a pianist/composer/arranger and piano instructor, so it’s little surprise that the centerpiece for his dreamy drawing room/salon is a splendid, rare concert grand. Of course, since it’s part of this wondrous Wallace World, it’s not just any ordinary piano. Instead, it’s a nine-foot, German Steinway, circa 1930. An imposing instrument, its grand resonating sound engulfs the small room with energizing vibrations, especially when maestro Wallace gets deep into the keys with one of his virtuosic classical improvisations.

“German Steinways like this are very rare, have an amazing sound and are quite different from American Steinways,” said Wallace, who performs recitals as part of his venue’s varied offerings.

Royally ensconced on parlor chairs, the Studio 59 audience members enjoy their wingback flights of fancy in-the-round, nearly encircling the Steinway, whose magnificent presence looms like a central ritual object or altar in the former church now consecrated to music, art and culture.

There’s a raised area in the room that one might think could be strategically employed as the stage or bandstand for the performers, which have included Norman Mailer’s daughter, the noted painter/sculptor Danielle Mailer who lives in Goshen and is married to the noted Connecticut-based jazz musician Peter McEachern.

Instead of providing a platform for Studio 59’s headliners, the raised area is used as a second-tier level for audience members sitting cozily in their stylish chairs. With this second-tier, Wallace explains, you almost get a full theater-in-the-round effect, which he loves as a performer because it puts him directly in contact with the audience.

A performer at Studio 59.
Credit Timothy Alexandre Wallace
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Timothy Alexandre Wallace
A performer at Studio 59.

When Wallace presents one of his freely improvised piano recitals, he loves to chat directly with his listeners between his extemporaneous numbers, which can move ad lib from Rachmaninoff virtuosity to Bach-like, contrapuntal lines.

Wallace deliberately chose to keep the capacity number down to insure the room’s most precious element of intimacy.

Size-wise, perhaps the greatest challenge Studio 59 has faced recently was when the celebrated Connecticut-born, jazz avant-garde bassist/composer Mario Pavone played there with his splendid, robust nine-piece ensemble. A large, muscular contingent, Pavone’s Praetorian Guard included two big, bulky double basses as well as a brass quartet, space-eaters even in a normal size jazz room unadorned with Wallace’s lavish array of wall-to-wall furnishings, including his signature squadron of wingback chairs and mélange of objets d’art and conversation pieces.

“There was no problem,” Wallace said of the logistics of housing Pavone’s powerhouse unit, “and Mario loved the place and the acoustics, which are excellent.”

The interior of Studio 59.
Credit Timothy Alexandre Wallace
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Timothy Alexandre Wallace
The interior of Studio 59.

If you love retro, you’ll be right at home in Wallace’s digs since, thanks to his eclectic, flamboyant décor, retro rules in the artful, highly original, mini-world he’s fashioned with Studio 59. It’s called Studio 59, he explains, simply because it’s located at 59 Barber Street. Quite remarkably, Wallace’s idyllic, idiosyncratic cultural oasis is located only about two blocks away from the business and bustle of downtown Torrington.

A lover of history, culture and aesthetics, Wallace likes to think of his creation as a time-warp slice of vintage Paris, a classic salon much like the legendary high culture hubs where classical music performances flourished before the rise of concert halls in Europe.

“My gosh, it’s like stepping back in time or into another world,” said Wallace, who lives as a full-time resident in the building, much like an artist dwelling inside the vital, house-size installation art work that he has created.

Over the years, the historic building itself, with its signature gingerbread filigree decorating its front face, morphed from its original use as a house of worship, to a residential home to a mixed use of home and art gallery.

Wallace, a Texas native, transformed the building in 2007 into his visionary image of an elegant performance and cultural center. Although its initial focus was classical music, it has since embraced a much wider scope, including even multi-media shows with cosmic Hubble telescope images projected on the room’s high ceiling, accompanied by Wallace’s spontaneous piano musings on the meaning of the stars.

Classical music, the piano, and the sheer joy of playing freewheeling improvisations have been the prime artistic passions of Wallace’s life since he fell in love with the piano as a gifted nine-year-old, born and raised just outside of Dallas.

The visionary maestro/impresario still loves to sit down at his Steinway, his mind emptied of all preconceptions, and totally improvise complete pieces, sometimes based on chords, or just two chords, no chords, or by playing off of tonal connections to see what discoveries they might lead to. Inspired by iconic, innovative modern writers like James Joyce, Wallace expresses himself in a style rooted in “stream of consciousness,” with one idea or feeling leading spontaneously to the next over the terrain of his subconscious thought.

Explaining his Ulysses-like, wandering adventures in improvisation, Wallace said, “Anything can happen, and everything can happen. It does just that when you’re improvising a soundscape where something is evolving right in front of you. It’s like life itself. You don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

With that same sense of verve, liberation and spontaneity, Wallce has created Studio 59, a magnum opus in itself, a fantasia that’s still evolving with, fortunately, no sign of a coda in sight. Tickets for Studio 59’s pre-Halloween celebration: $20.00 general; $12.00 students and seniors, available at the door or by calling (860) 482-6801. Information: studio59.com.

Please submit press releases on upcoming jazz events at least two weeks before the publication date to omac28@gmail.com. Comments left below are also most welcome.

Owen McNally writes the weekly Jazz Corridor column for WNPR.org as well as periodic freelance pieces for The Hartford Courant and other publications.

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