feature photo: Brian Cohen
When guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek and percussionist Tomas Fujiwara combined their considerable faculties in 2012 to form Thumbscrew, everyone in the jazz world knew then that this collective was going to be a force. Known as leaders on their instruments but also innovative composers and improvisors, Thumbscrew was bound to be impactful. Ten years and six albums later, they have met expectations and then exceeded them.
Multicolored Midnight (September 30, 2022) will be their seventh album, and like the other six, a Cuneiform Records release. But they are nowhere near running out of gas and continue to pack surprises. The only true consistency from one Thumbscrew album to the next is that they follow a logic and instinct strictly all their own.
There’s no special theme to Multicolored Midnight, but they come up with new wrinkles without having to declare their intentions; forward movement is built into their DNA.
For Formanek, the progression is seen in his willingness to try new things as a composer. Thumbscrew grooves – yes, grooves – for his number “I’m A Senator!” and Halvorson plays a harmonic counter to Formanek that no one could have guessed when she enters more than thirty seconds in. “Capsicum Annuum” is Formanek’s continuing experimentation with composing by palindrome introduced last year with his Trio’s Were We Where We Were 2021 release, undertaken by Thumbscrew.
“Fidgety” marks the first use of electronics by Thumbscrew; Formanek creates trippy, backward tape-like action from his double bass hooked up to a device. Of course, Halvorson’s guitar is always effects-laden but same as with her, it’s how he is able to deftly manipulate the technology that is most intriguing.
Fujiwara introduced his vibraphone prowess on Thumbscrew’s Anthony Braxton Project and the success of it warranted a deeper dive. “Shit Changes” reveals the drummer is just as attuned to what his bandmates are playing with this instrument as he is with his usual one, particularly good at dabbing colors along Halvorson’s own sonic brushstrokes. “Future Reruns and Nostalgia” is Fujiwara again on vibes this time mated to Formanek’s arco bass while Halvorson eases her way into this esoteric melody that recalls 60’s avant-garde jazz.
Fujiwara mans the vibes once more for the carefully composed “Swirling Lives,” which is nearly symphonic in its structure. As the other two temporarily back away, Fujiwara puts in some very thoughtful lines on the vibraphone, revealing that this is something much more than a hobby for him.
Mary Halvorson, meanwhile, doesn’t introduce any big new concepts, she just does what she always does, only better. Long hailed as one of the most inventive guitarists to emerge in the last twenty years, some of her most amazing playing are peppered all throughout these tracks. Halvorson kicks off Fujiwara’s “Song For Mr. Humphries,” a pattern that suddenly makes perfect sense when Formanek’s bass line come in and completes the picture. Halvorson picks playfully around the bassist’s tight note cluster like it was child’s play; her already-scary good guitar prowess and vocabulary even now continues to expand while ceding nothing in the uniqueness of her approach. “Should Be Cool” is a swirling cauldron, in which Halvorson positivity thrives.
As prominent as Halvorson can be, she remains the consummate team player, always creating within the framework of the song structure set up so sinuously by her bandmates. An open-ended rhythm section pervades for the first half of “Survival Fetish,” facilitating Halvorson’s intricate fingerpicking. Halvorson’s lead during “Multicolored Midnight” blurs the distinction between soloing and comping and also syncing up with Formanek’s tricky bassline. That Formanek/Halvorson connection on “Brutality and Beauty” is something to behold, with the bassist alternately playing harmonic counterpoints and unifying with the guitar, adding more mystery to Fujiwara’s already provocative melody.
Thumbscrew continues to perform greater than the sum of its considerable parts and ten years and seven albums later, Multicolored Midnight retains all the freshness of their first time playing together.
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