Friday, May 6, is the 22nd Bandcamp Friday—a 24-hour period where the retailer passes its usual cut of sales revenue along to the independent labels and artists who sell their music and merchandise through the site. Bandcamp typically announces forthcoming Bandcamp Fridays in three-month chunks, and this Friday is the last one that’s been made […]
Tag: Thumbscrew
Posted inMusic
Thumbscrew are an all-star ensemble where no one is the star
The members of Thumbscrew are nonpareil instrumentalists. Drummer Tomas Fujiwara easily balances ornamentation and propulsion at any speed; double bassist Michael Formanek plays with a woody tone whose bulk belies his ability to invest each note with its own expressive inflection; and guitarist Mary Halvorson employs fluid phrasing and adroit manipulation of delay effects that […]
Posted inMusic
Mary Halvorson recruits singer Robert Wyatt to take her Code Girl project to the next level
You don’t get a MacArthur “genius” grant just for thinking big; you get one because your big ideas work extraordinarily well. Mary Halvorson, who was awarded the grant last year, has earned hers by moving from strength to strength. Ever since she began recording in the mid-2000s, she’s projected a strikingly personal voice on the […]
Posted inMusic
The pandemic is still with us, so Bandcamp day is too
The Reader recommends 34 recent releases for this month’s Bandcamp day.
Posted inMusic
Thumbscrew helps Anthony Braxton celebrate 75 years by recording some of his lesser-known compositions
Composer, multi-instrumentalist, educator, and conceptualist Anthony Braxton was born in Chicago on June 4, 1945, and the celebration of his 75th birthday has taken a major hit from the COVID-19 pandemic. At least nine 2020 events have been cancelled so far—the only live performance that hasn’t yet been stricken from the calendar for this year […]
Posted inBlogs
Best shows to see: The Blind Shake, Thumbscrew, Shabazz Palaces
The best shows to see through Sunday include the Blind Shake, Thumbscrew, Shabazz Palaces, World Music Festival, and Riot Fest.
Posted inBlogs
12 O’Clock Track: “Cheap Knock Off,” some appealingly knotty free jazz by Thumbscrew
The trio of guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara releases its debut album.