The Thir­teenth Assembly features four dis­tin­guished musician/composers working together as equals to create dis­tinc­tively eclectic, yet cohesive music. Drawing on years of col­lab­o­ra­tion, as well as its members’ diverse back­grounds in genres including classical, folk, rock, jazz and the avant-garde, this col­lec­tive ensemble has performed across the United States and Europe since 2007. Their debut recording (un)sentimental was released in 2009, with the follow-up album Station Direct arriving in late 2011, both on Important Records.

“Cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, guitarist Mary Halvorson, violist Jessica Pavone and drummer Tomas Fujiwara are among the most exciting new jazz musicians to emerge on the New York scene,” declares The Wall Street Journal’s Martin Johnson, “and it is hard to talk about any one of these players without men­tion­ing the others. Each of these musicians is a masterly soloist, and they all are creating music that is delicate, complex and eclectic.”

Critics have credited the group with “truly remark­able capa­bil­i­ties” (Nick Storring, Exclaim!), “a knack for detailed and apropos framing of each others’ solo turns” (Bill Meyer, Dusted) and “an admirably relaxed sense of self, and a shared con­vic­tion to keep all options open” (Nate Chinen, The New York Times). AllAboutJazz.com’s Troy Collins adds, “The unified ensemble sound of The Thir­teenth Assembly is centered around empa­thetic com­mu­ni­ca­tion and a will­ing­ness to subvert ego for the good of the group; there is no grand­stand­ing here, only four long­stand­ing friends con­spir­ing to make adven­tur­ous yet acces­si­ble music…demonstrating the endless pos­si­bil­i­ties of con­tem­po­rary music by players at the top of their game.”