“To try to define Mary Halvorson solely by the term ‘guitarist’ is to do both her and her art a disservice, as she’s unlike any other guitarist currently playing today,” says Matt Byars, co-host of NPR’s Essential Tremors. “Halvorson’s work is vibrant and alive, agile and electric, fluid and inventive, all of which are particularly in evidence on her latest release.” Halvorson talks with Byars and his co-host Lee Gardner on the latest episode of the show, in which musicians and other creators discuss songs that shaped who they are. For Halvorson, that includes music by Jimi Hendrix, Yusef Lateef, and Robert Wyatt. You can hear why on the episode, a collaboration with Knoxville's Big Ears Festival, where Halvorson will perform this spring, below.

Amaryllis and Belladonna, Halvorson’s Nonesuch debut albums, were released last May. The two suites, which Halvorson describes as “modular and interlocking,” were produced and mixed by John Dieterich. Amaryllis is a six-song suite performed by a newly formed sextet of master improvisers—trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, trombonist Jacob Garchik, vibraphone player Patricia Brennan, bassist Nick Dunston, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara—with the Mivos string quartet joinining for three of the songs. Belladonna is a set of five compositions written for Halvorson on guitar plus the Mivos Quartet, whose parts are through-composed and augmented by Halvorson’s guitar improvisations. You can pick up copies of the album and hear them here.

Halvorson will perform music with the Amaryllis Sextet in Europe this March, with shows in the Netherlands, Slovenia, Germany, Norway, and France, before returning to the States to perform at Big Ears. For details and tickets, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.