Jazz Articles about Myra Melford

About Myra Melford

Album Review

Geof Bradfield / Myra Melford / Ben Goldberg / Dana Hall: Open Or Close

Read "Open Or Close" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
September 5, 2026

Ornette Coleman may come to mind at the beginning of the spin of Open Or Close. This is understandable. The title song, which opens the set, is from Coleman's pen. Additionally, the jazz collective at work here--reedmen Geof Bradfield and Ben Goldberg, pianist Myra Melford and drummer Dana Hall play loose and free, à la Ornette, with a lot of seat-of-the-pants energy. The sound has a common thread strung out between Coleman's 1968 Blue Note Records album New York Is ...

Album Review

Satoko Fujii-Myra Melford: Katarahi

Read "Katarahi" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
June 4, 2026

The connection(s) between pianist-composers Satoko Fujii and Myra Melford transcend the usual truisms. Not kindred spirits in creativity or even mirror images in technique, the pair are more like twin sisters of different artistic mothers, distinctly their own individuals in style yet complementary as such in almost ineffable ways. Hence this album title, a Japanese term referring to a heart-to-heart conversation between intimate friends, fittingly suggests a deep, meaningful dialogue. Katarahi is the duo's second collaboration, but as ...

Album Review

Myra Melford - Satoko Fujii: Katarahi

Read "Katarahi" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
May 20, 2026

When four hands meet across 176 keys, is it even possible for pianists to check their egos at the stage door? Piano duets, by their very nature, often invite comparison--even confrontation. Consider the 1977 encounter between Mary Lou Williams and Cecil Taylor, the high-profile 1978 concerts by Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, or Kris Davis and Craig Taborn's Octopus (Pyroclastic, 2018). Each of these pairings carried the tension of a musical grappling match. Even Bill Evans' overdubbed Conversations with Myself ...

Radio & Podcasts

Satoko Fujii/Myra Melford Together Again + John Hollenbeck and Abate Beirhun

by Hobart Taylor
April 22, 2026

Satoko Fujii with Myra Melford, Tomeka Reid, Robert Glasper and Abbey Lincoln singing A Cappella.Playlist Host Speaks 00:00 Satoko Fujii /Myra Melford “Signpost" from Katahari (Rouge Arts) 00:21 Brian Dickenson “October Songs Pt. 1" from October Songs (Cellar) 6:45 Abbey Lincoln “Tender as a Rose" from That's Him (Craft) 14:30 Host Speaks 17:29 Abate Beirhun “Des Des" from Adis Ken (Origin) 18:54 Allison Au “You Ordinary Stranger" from Forest Grove (AA 15) 22:30 Blue Moods “Agitation" from Directions ...

Radio & Podcasts

Music From Favourite Recordings of 2025

by Maurice Hogue
January 12, 2026

Aside from the two opening tracks from South African drummer Asher Gamedze's upcoming release, A Semblance Of Return, the rest of this show features a track from each of the 25 favourite recordings played on One Man's Jazz in 2025. These were chosen from recordings released by artists from almost 40 different countries. It was a very, very good year! Playlist Asher Gamedze “Air (If Involvedness)" from A Semblance Of Return (Northern Spy) 00:00 Asher Gamedze “Following Up" ...

Album Review

Myra Melford: Splash

Read "Splash" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
November 24, 2025

Affermatasi ormai oltre trent'anni fa come uno dei nomi nuovi, più creativi e identitari, della scena jazzistica internazionale, Myra Melford, pur assumendo una posizione a volte periferica (defilata?) rispetto all'agone specifico (ogni grande artista ha anche bisogno dei propri spazi di riflessione), ha confermato con regolarità quel primo input, come questo suo nuovo, bellissimo lavoro non fa che ribadire una volta di più. Sono del resto con lei due autentici giganti dei rispettivi strumenti, in un caso (Ches ...

Album Review

Myra Melford: Splash

by John Sharpe
August 21, 2025

Pianist Myra Melford returns to the classic piano trio format for the first time since The Guest House (Enja, 2011), her acclaimed outing with Trio M with Mark Dresser and Matt Wilson. This time, the lineup is no less formidable: bassist Michael Formanek and drummer/vibraphonist Ches Smith--both commanding improvisers and bandleaders--join her for a set that reaffirms the trio as a site for invention rather than formula. As with her 2022 quintet project For the Love of Fire ...