Pianist-composer Sylvie Courvoisier, a native of Switzerland, has earned just renown for balancing two distinct worlds: the deep, richly detailed chamber music of her European roots and the grooving, hook-laden sounds of the downtown jazz scene in New York City, her home for more than two decades. Few artists feel truly at ease in both concert halls and jazz clubs, playing improvised or composed music.

Guitarist, composer and MacArthur Fellow Mary Halvorson has been called “NYC’s least-predictable improviser” (Howard Mandel, City Arts), “the most forward-thinking guitarist working right now” (Lars Courvoisier @, NPR.org) and “one of today’s most formidable bandleaders” (Francis Davis, Village Voice). Halvorson’s most recent releases, Amaryllis and Belladonna, showcase her string quartet writing deftly interpreted by The Mivos Quartet, alongside a new sextet.

Their brand new duo album, Bone Bells is out March 14th, 2025 via Pyroclastic Records, and showcases pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and guitarist Mary Halvorson at their bluesy, funky, beautifully sweet best.

1. Bone Bells
2. Esmeralda
3. Folded Secret
4. Nags Head Valse
5. Beclouded
6. Silly Walk
7. Float Queens
8. Cristellina e Lontano

Produced by Ned Rothenberg, Mary Halvorson and Sylvie Courvoisier, and recorded by Ryan Streber at Oktaven Audio, Mount Vernon, NY on May 7th, 2024, the recording opens on the delicate elegance of the titular Bone Bells and the rarified Esmeralda and then we get the flirtatious melodies within Folded Secret, and the playfully sculpted Nags Head Valse seamlessly backing them.

Along next is the free-flowing rhythms of Beclouded and the aptly-titled jauntiness of Silly Walk, and they are in turn followed by the stridently confident Float Queens, with the sanguine Cristellina e Lontano bringing the collection to a close.

Musicians:
Sylvie Courvoisier, Piano
Mary Halvorson, Guitar

Official Purchase Link

www.sylviecourvoisier.com

Sylvie Courvoisier @ Instagram