Incomparable guitarist and composer Mary Halvorson brings Canis Major to the Cedar stage for the first time. Dave Adewumi (trumpet), Henry Fraser (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums) round out the quartet.

There’s a theory of record production that says the best results come shortly after musicians have encountered a piece for the first time. That’s when it’s possible to get the intuitive reaction, before players develop a frame of reference. First thought, best thought.

An opposite theory holds that the magic happens later, after the ensemble has absorbed the material. That’s when the musicians can lean into its nuances, leveraging familiarity into swagger.

Mary Halvorson’s dramatic, daringly intricate new album About Ghosts suggests that these approaches can be complementary. The eight-song work is the guitarist and composer’s fourth full-length with her sextet Amaryllis—plus saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins and Brian Settles. Halvorson wrote some of the music for the core group in 2023, and then, following what she describes as a snap impulse, experimented with a piece for four horns instead of two. Just to try it.