Thumbscrew: Mary Halvorson, Michael Formanek, Tomas Fujiwara | Arts + Literature Laboratory | Madison Contemporary Arts Center

Thumbscrew: Mary Halvorson, Michael Formanek, Tomas Fujiwara

On Saturday, October 29, 2022 at 7pm, Arts + Literature Laboratory presents the all-star collective trio Thumbscrew, featuring guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, as they mark their 10th year as a collective endeavor with the release of their seventh album for Cuneiform Records, Multicolored Midnight. Tickets are $20 ($15 student/ALL member) in advance online and $25 at the door for everyone. Doors open at 6:30pm. Tickets may be purchased online in advance at https://thumbscrew.bpt.me/ from September 6 up to 2 hours before the show, or at the door.

The following morning, Sunday, October 30, 2022 at 11am, Thumbscrew will present a public workshop and Q&A as part of the New Music Series.

This engagement is supported by the Arts Midwest GIG Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the Wisconsin Arts Board.

With this anniversary, the trio is looking ahead to new sonic territory rather than taking stock of a prodigiously creative decade. Their new works oscillate between detailed composition, unbridled improvisation, and every gradation in between. It’s another step on an extraordinary journey by three of jazz’s most dauntless and resourceful artists.

Thumbscrew’s first gig as a collective trio was on March 11, 2012. Since then, the all-star trio has been in high demand for performances at Jazz and New Music festivals worldwide. They have played at such North American festivals as the Vancouver Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Philadelphia’s Center City Jazz Festival, and the wildly popular beyond-genre Big Ears Festival. Thumbscrew has also played numerous festivals overseas, touring Europe and the Middle East. In addition, they’ve played at and/or served residencies at numerous high-profile venues worldwide, including the Village Vanguard (NYC), Walker Arts Center (Minneapolis), Blues Alley (Washington DC), and many more. Featuring the trio’s masterful and near-intuitive interplay, consummate level of skill, distinctive compositions, and joie de vivre onstage, Thumbscrew’s live shows have become legendary, instilling audiences with awe and generating positive reviews in the music press.

Thumbscrew’s recorded music has likewise received worldwide acclaim. Counting its newest release, Multicolored Midnight, the band has released seven albums since 2014, all on Cuneiform Records. These albums received an impressive amount of press worldwide, including numerous 4-star reviews and/or spotlights in DownBeat and other jazz magazines, in addition to being named in numerous Best Jazz Albums of Year lists globally. In addition, the Thumbscrew trio and its individual members have been cited in various Best of Year lists for Musicians, Rising Star Artists, and Rising Star Ensembles.

Mary Halvorson by Kelly Jensen

Mary Halvorson has been described by JazzTimes as “a singular talent,” and by the Wall Street Journal as “one of the most exciting and original guitarists in jazz—or otherwise.” In recent DownBeat Critics Polls Halvorson has been celebrated as Guitarist, Rising Star Jazz artist, and Rising Star Composer of the year, and in 2019 she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. One of New York City’s most in-demand guitarists, over the past decade Halvorson has worked with such diverse musicians as Tim Berne, Taylor Ho Bynum, John Dieterich, Trevor Dunn, Bill Frisell, Ingrid Laubrock, Jason Moran, Joe Morris, Tom Rainey, Jessica Pavone, Tomeka Reid, Marc Ribot and John Zorn. She’s released a series of critically acclaimed albums on the Firehouse 12 label, starting with 2008’s Dragon’s Head, her trio debut featuring bassist John Hébert and drummer Ches Smith. The group expanded to a quintet with trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson and alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon on 2010’s Saturn... Read More

Michael Formanek

Michael Formanek has been described as “a bold and unclassifiable bassist and composer,” while The New York Times has noted that his music is always “graceful in its subversions, often even sumptuous.” Whether it’s for a small band or a large ensemble, he creates modern jazz that is earthy yet atmospheric, always alive with dark-hued melody and bone-deep rhythms, rich in dynamic possibility and the sound of surprise. Even with decades of experience to his credit – he got his start as a Bay Area teenager playing with the likes of Joe Henderson and Tony Williams – Formanek has made some of his keenest creative leaps in recent years, documented on a sequence of justly lauded recordings.

Formanek’s three ECM albums as a leader each scored rare five-star reviews in DownBeat. These included two discs – Small Places (2012) and The Rub and Spare Change (2010) – featuring a powerhouse quartet with saxophonist Tim Berne, pianist Craig Taborn and drummer Gerald Cleaver; the... Read More

Tomas Fujiwara by Matt Fitt Photography

Based in Brooklyn, Fujiwara has also earned renown as a composer and bandleader who performs and records with some of the most exciting musicians of the current generation. He’s been described by Point of Departure as “a ubiquitous presence in the New York scene…an artist whose urbane writing is equal to his impressively nuanced drumming.” He leads and composes for a number of ensembles, including Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double (with Halvorson, Taylor Ho Bynum, Ralph Alessi, Brandon Seabrook, and Gerald Cleaver), and Tomas Fujiwara’s 7 Poets Trio (with Patricia Brennan and Tomeka Reid), which released its eponymous debut in 2019 on the Rogue Art label. Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up (with Halvorson, Jonathan Finlayson, and Brian Settles) released three albums on the 482 label, including Actionspeak (2010, with bassist Danton Boller), The Air Is Different (2012, with bassist Trevor Dunn), and After All Is Said (2015, with Formanek). He’s also released Variable Bets (2014... Read More

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Arts + Literature Laboratory is located at 111 S. Livingston Street #100, Madison, Wisconsin, 53703.

Our galleries are open Tuesday through Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday noon to 5pm, and other programs take place throughout the week. Please check the events calendar and education section for details.

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