Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings brings together two giants of modern jazz and experimental music, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and guitarist Mary Halvorson. The pair will release the record in June via Nonesuch, representing the culmination of sporadic collaborations dating all the way back to 2009. This material specifically was hashed out in January 2025, performed at New York nightclub the Stone, and recorded the following day at Sear Sound.
Halvorson and Akinmusire have attempted to make an album together twice before, but this time they feel like they got it right. "I think it’s partly a shared aesthetic and an ease of communication," Halvorson says of their partnership. "I feel comfortable to try whatever." Akinmusire shares a similar sentiment: "I think it’s rare to find an improviser that all goes and nothing has to go at all. It’s rare to feel like you don’t have to do anything and you can do anything. And that’s what I love about playing with Mary."
"Soundcheck," the album's lead single, puts Akinmusire's trumpet front and center. It begins with nothing but silence and that horn, then expands into spaced-out, uneasy contortions. Listen below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Prelude in the Ash"
02 "This Vivid"
03 "Nice to meet you again for the first time"
04 "Soundcheck"
05 "Watersmoke"
06 "Tangled Pretty"
07 "Ofo"
08 "Blood & Sand"
09 "Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings"
Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings is out 6/12 on Nonesuch. Pre-order it here.
