Mary Halvorson's Canis Major

About Mary Halvorson

Mary Halvorson is a Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer, and recording artist for Nonesuch Records. Her distinctive sound and innovative approach to her instrument have earned her widespread recognition over the past two decades, including numerous best-of-the-year lists, a 2019 MacArthur Foundation fellowship, and Guitarist of the Year honors in the DownBeat Critics Poll for the past nine years. When not leading her own award-winning bands, she can be heard in a wide variety of creative partnerships and on more than 70 releases as a co-leader or side woman.

Her 2025 performance schedule included notable duo concerts with Ambrose Akinmusire, Peter Evans, Bill Frisell, and Nicole Mitchell, as well as international tour dates with such longstanding ensembles as the Tomeka Reid Quartet and her duo with Sylvie Courvosier, which released its critically acclaimed third recording, Bone Bells (Pyroclastic Records), in March 2025. She also headlined the fourth night of this summer’s Vision Festival with her newest group, Canis Major, featuring Dave Adewumi, Henry Fraser, and Tomas Fujiwara.

Last June, she released About Ghosts, her 16th recording as a bandleader and the latest from her flagship sextet, Amaryllis, the current Group of the Year in the latest DownBeat Critics Poll. A handful of tracks include special guests Brian Settles and Immanuel Wilkins, augmenting the core ensemble of Fujiwara, Adam O’Farrill, Jacob Garchik, Patrician Brennan, and Nick Dunston. Amaryllis kicked off its live support of the record at the North Sea Jazz Festival in July and will be touring the Eastern U.S. and Europe through September and October.

In addition to claiming the top spot on North American College & Community Radio’s jazz chart, About Ghosts has been heralded as “nothing short of spectacular” (Chris Ingalls, PopMatters), “an unbelievable statement from one of my favorite artists” (Nate Chinen, NPR) and “more proof that Halvorson’s Amaryllis is among the most inventive, articulate, and creatively forward-thinking ensembles playing jazz right now” (Thom Jurek, AllMusic). “Mary Halvorson is the jazz guitarist of the moment,” declares Fred Kaplan in his review for TrackingAngle.com, “it is beyond time to herald [her] as a true and brilliant original. About Ghosts is a terrific album in every way.”