Pedal steel player Susan Alcorn, whose album with her quintet, Pedernal, was the pick for the best album of the year by Francis Davis, who runs the annual NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. David Lobato/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Mary Halvorson Mary Halvorson artist page: interviews, features and/or performances archived at NPR Music
Mary Halvorson
Jack Rose's ramblin' ragas, sun-drenched drones and hiccuping blues were guitar-picked with a big dang heart and even bigger hands. Tim Bugbee/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Mary Halvorson's volatile and cagey album Code Girl is her first set full of songs with lyrics, both a departure from and extension of her earlier work and one of Nate Chinen's favorite albums of 2018. Ross Mantle for NPR hide caption
Janelle Monáe performs at the Greek Theatre on June 28 in Los Angeles, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption
Mary Halvorson at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh in March, just before a performance of songs from her latest album, Code Girl. Ross Mantle for NPR hide caption
Mary Halvorson Re-Engineered Jazz Guitar. Now, She's Hacking Her Own Code
Mary Halvorson's latest album, Away With You, is a collection of octets. Peter Gannushkin/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Maria Schneider and Rudresh Mahanthappa share top honors in the 2015 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. Briene Lermitte/Jimmy Katz/Courtesy of the artists hide caption
Trombonist and composer Jacob Garchik enlisted three guitarists and a drummer for his winding new concept album, Ye Olde. Peter Gannushkin/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Wayne Shorter. Robert Ashcroft/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
The Mary Halvorson Quintet performs at the 2013 Newport Jazz Festival. Adam Kissick for NPR hide caption
Mary Halvorson Quintet, Live In Concert: Newport Jazz 2013
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Mary Halvorson performs a Tiny Desk Concert on Dec. 12, 2012. Ryan Smith/NPR hide caption
Sonny Sharrock (pictured here with Linda Sharrock, then his wife) approach his guitar like Albert Ayler played his saxophone â fiercely, yet tenderly out of bounds. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Mary Halvorson's Saturn Sings is an abstract jazz cliff-dive inspired by Thelonious Monk, Sam Cooke and Robert Wyatt. Amani Willett hide caption
