Ambrose Akinmusire and Mary Halvorson – Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings (Nonesuch) 

Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings is the first recorded collaboration by the duo of trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and guitarist Mary Halvorson. Spontaneity and through composed material are on display, with both playing roles in all of the pieces. “Prelude in the Ash” begins with a questing trumpet solo before the guitar joins with a sinuous arpeggiated chord pattern. “This Vivid” is more muscular, with solo material – a high trumpet note and single line guitar solos – repeated amid ebullient shouts. 

Calling a piece “Soundcheck” might suggest something off the cuff, but there is a seamless give and take between Akinmusire and Halvorson, and electronics augment their sonic palette. “Soundcheck” ends with a skittering, web-like pattern. Conversely, “Blood and Sand” is a fetching ballad, with a captivating chord progression underlaying a supple trumpet solo.

“Nice to Meet You Again for the First Time” begins with an angular yet nimble guitar solo. Akinmusire joins, doubling the intricate melody and then veering off in cascading runs. The two diverge into separate free play, always coming back to the core melody only then to return to a cat and mouse game of call and response. Likewise, “Watersmoke” begins with a melody played in unison which periodically returns, interspersed with atmospheric interludes. 

Akinmusire explores the altissimo register in solos on “Tangled Pretty,” returning to earth to join Halvorson, who plays arpeggiations but also explores pitch bends and rapid shifts in register. The two revel in spicy dissonant verticals in the opening of “Ofo,” only to have the piece unfold into a lyrical melody. However, Halvorson keeps some of the tension of the previous section in her playing, employing dynamic shifts and glissandos to good effect. In the last passage of the piece, Akinmusire plays extended high notes yet still executes a seamless fadeout with Halvorson.  

The title track, also its longest at around eight minutes in duration, closes the album. It is nice to hear them stretch out a bit. “Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings” opens with a lyrical melody from Akinmusire and delicately strummed chords from Halvorson. She gradually moves in sync with the trumpeter, doubling the melody. Washes of keening looped harmonies create oasis-like interludes between repetitions of “Slo-Mo Neon’s” main theme, and populate the piece’s lustrous long denouement. 

Akinmusire and Halvorson are both gifted soloists, which is abundantly demonstrated on Slo-Mo Neon. But it is their work in tandem that is most memorable. Dare we hope that this pairing continues to perform and record together?

-Christian Carey