Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson - Bone Bells (2025)

Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and American guitarist Mary Halvorson are known for their distinctive and unconventional style—in the best sense of the word. As expected, their music is rooted in strong improvisational ideas, yet their compositional skills are evident in each piece. Bone Bells marks their third duo album, following Crop Circles (2017) and Searching For the Disappeared Hour (2021).

The title track opens the album with dark, warped, and beautifully constructed storytelling, evoking the book Trust by Hernan Diaz, the inspiration for its name. The two musicians sound completely integrated, sharing a vision that is at once mournful and enchanting. Courvoisier’s “Esmeralda”, named after a sculpture by Dutch artist Cornelis Zitman, is rhythmically defiant, showcasing a dynamic flow with a stippled, fluttery sense of motion. Before culminating in feverish agitation, it shifts into a more introspective mood, embracing a rounder sense of harmony with the pianist at the helm.

Halvorson’s “Folded Secret” layers forward-moving prepared piano with intrepid guitar work, generating an oddly propulsive flow. These seemingly effortless interactions emerge with striking detail and coordination. “Beclouded” fuses classical and avant-jazz elements, intertwining arpeggiated piano lines with spiky guitar sprints—except when the duo navigates the intricate melodic line in fleet unison.

“Nags Head Waltz” flows lightly and sinuously, embracing an open sense of pace, while “Silly Walk” feels almost cartoonish in its rhythmic accentuations and experimental determination. Inspired by Monty Python sketches as well as sculptures by Swiss artist Sophie Bouvier Ausländer, this piece takes on a darker mood without losing its sense of humor. The album closes with Courvoisier’s “Cristellina e Lontano”, where a 10-beat cycle featuring an eight-note vamping piano phrase collides with the sly triple-meter feel established by the guitar. This texturally elegant piece begins with rapid-fire lines played in unison and evolves into compelling improvisations.

Courvoisier and Halvorson embrace a sense of risk that is magnified into fields of harmonic possibility. They are brave enough to explore outside the lines and exceptionally skilled to make their music sound thrilling.

Sylvie Courvoisier, Piano
Mary Halvorson, Guitar