Friday, August 7, 2009

Mary Halvorson

Last night I went to the Hammer Museum to see Mary Halvorson perform. While I really enjoyed her latest album, and her playing is quite good, I must confess that I was more interested in her drummer. Ches Smith, who's playing in her trio these days, is certainly versatile. I've seen him play in two different guitar trios, as a duo with Devin Hoff called Good for Cows, and on solo percussion. He's also played with Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog (one of Ribot's heavier groups), Xiu Xiu, and Mr. Bungle. I always make a point of seeing him when he's in town, in part because he's played some of the best drum solos I've ever heard, and in part because he's so fun to watch. This is most true of his solo performances; you get a visual sense of the multiple possibilities he's mulling over. He'll often make 3/4 of a gesture and then pull back, deciding on silence instead. It really draws me into his playing.

On a side note, the Larry Johnson exhibition at the Hammer is definitely worth seeing. I'm still digesting some of it, particularly the different types of pieces incorporating text. In many cases, it would be more appropriate to say "consisting solely of text." It's interesting to think what the role is of the text's original semantics when the words are the primary visual element in a piece.