Jazz Artists Bynum ’98 and Halvorson ’02 on the Rise

A recent March article by Nate Chinen in The New York Times focused on Firehouse 12, a New Haven state-of-the-art recording studio and home to a jazz record label of the same name. Firehouse 12 Records is co-owned by cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum ’98 and Nick Lloyd, who owns the recording studio.

The Times article pointed out that the Firehouse 12 studio in a renovated 1905 firehouse in New Haven’s Ninth Square Neighborhood has also become a venue for performances by some of today’s most talented young avant-garde jazz artists. At the same time, Firehouse 12 records has already released several well-reviewed recordings by a number of up-and-coming musicians, including drummer Tyshawn Sorey, trumpeter Peter Evans, and guitarist Mary Halvorson ’02. Halvorson’s Dragon Head album went into a second printing.

Bynum, who was interviewed by the Times, studied with Wesleyan music professor and jazz legend Anthony Braxton. He mentions in the article that Firehouse 12 had an initial success with their first release of a boxed set of Braxton recordings, priced at $100.

Bynum and Halvorson also were singled out with two of their musician friends in April in The Wall Street Journal as “among the most exciting new jazz musicians to emerge on the New York scene.” The WSJ article called Bynum’s sextet recording Asphalt Flowers/Forking Paths (Hat Hut) “one of the best recordings of the past year. It’s a broad, sprawling disc brimming with unique harmonies and pithy solos.” The article noted that Halvorson’s Firehouse 12 album Dragon Head was named the finest debut recording in the Village Voice’s annual jazz critics’ poll.

Link to New York Times article on Firehouse 12:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/arts/music/27fire.html?ref=music

Link to Wall Street Journal article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123923002993502795.html