Mary Halvorson Quintet: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Today, when you see a saxophonist and a trumpeter in front of a jazz group, it s par for the course. It s a particular combination that s defined many landmark recordings: Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, John Coltrane andMiles Davis. Done right, it s a classic meatandpotatoes sound: open to reinvention, comfortable with tradition. Guitarist Mary Halvorson didn t come to this standard practice just by playing standards. As a sidewoman, she s often tapped to play in op