In 2018, the collective trio Thumbscrew — Mary Halvorson on guitar, Michael Formanek on bass, Tomas Fujiwara on drums — released two albums simultaneously. Theirs contains 10 interpretations of jazz standards (Benny Golson’s “Stablemates,” Brooks Bowman’s “East of the Sun (and West of the Moon),” Wayne Shorter’s “Dance Cadaverous”), somewhat more obscure tunes (Herbie Nichols’ “House Party Starting,” Jimmy Rowles’ “The Peacocks,” Stanley Cowell’s “Effi”), and explorations of Brazilian and Argentinian music (Jacob do Bandolim’s “Benzinho” and Julio de Caro’s “Buen Amigo”), among other things. What may immediately surprise the listener is how reverent some of these treatments are, particularly “Benzinho” and “The Peacocks”; nothing is played with a wink, nothing is deconstructed, but the attention paid to melody and harmony is stricter than anywhere else in Thumbscrew’s catalog, which makes this album an excellent starting point for the newcomer.