BIMHUIS TV Presents: SYLVIE COURVOISIER & MARY HALVORSON

Duo improvisations by avant jazz pianist and guitar innovator, both From New York.

Sylvie Courvoisier piano, Mary Halvorson guitar

Searching for the Disappeared Hour marks the second collaboration for these two singular musicians. Their initial collaboration, 2017’s Crop Circles, was recorded after a single concert at New York’s now-defunct Cornelia Street Café, and found them repurposing existing compositions for the duo context. By contrast, the music on Searching for the Disappeared Hour was composed expressly for the duo, taking stunning advantage of the chemistry and familiarity forged during tours of Europe and the States in the intervening years. The album was produced by Ron Saint Germain, who has worked with Ornette Coleman, McCoy Tyner, Lou Reed, and many others.

Sylvie Courvoisier is known for her energetic piano playing in which she bridges the gap between her classical background and the improv scene in New York, where she lives. She played in a wide variety of bands with imaginative musicians such as Mark Feldman, Ikue Mori and Tim Berne. Mary Halvorson is regarded as a great innovator of jazz guitar. Consciously avoiding clichés, she creates her own style, in which she subtly distorts her semi-acoustic guitar with electronic effects. Her mentors include composer Anthony Braxton and guitarist Joe Morris.