Jazz Articles about Myra Melford

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Myra Melford/The Tent: Where the Two Worlds Touch

by John Kelman
May 19, 2004

At its best music should transcend any technical evaluation; it should just be. All too often people (read: critics) assess the skill involved in creating a specific work, forgetting about whether or not it succeeds on purely a gut level. Pianist Myra Melford's latest project, The Tent, manages to rise above such pedestrian considerations, instead demanding that it be considered wholly on the basis of spiritual and emotional reaction. The question of what happens at the nexus point Where the ...

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Myra Melford/The Tent: When The Two Worlds Touch

by Jerry D'Souza
May 12, 2004

Poetry has its own essence. Myra Melford was inspired by the words of Jelaluddin Rumi, the founder of the Mevlevi order of dervishes who are, perhaps, more recognisable as the Whirling Dervishes. Rumi’s words have undoubtedly cast a spell, but the music here goes well beyond that. Melford has a clasp on Hindustani music that she uses to add a captivating dimension. The band Melford has fashioned, from the musicians she has worked with, understand what she wants to say ...

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Myra Melford/Marty Ehrlich: Yet Can Spring

by AAJ Staff
May 1, 2001

From the opening notes of Yet Can Spring, it's clear that Myra Melford and Marty Ehrlich occupy common ground. It's not common in any other sense of the word, though. These two players each have a unique perspective on the intersection of straight-ahead improvisation with its freer forms, and both dwell eagerly at the interface. At times lyrical and introspective, at other times crashing down from the hilltops like a banshee, Melford can be like a wolf in sheep's clothing ...

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Myra Melford and Marty Ehrlich: Yet Can Spring

by AAJ Staff
May 1, 2001

Myra Melford-Marty Ehrlich: Yet Can Spring by Gerard Cox

Myra Melford and Marty Ehrlich are prominent musicians in a new school of the jazz avant-garde whose credo might speak something like this: “yeah, we're cool with playing out, but don't think that because of that we're not able to deal with and respect the jazz tradition, because the moment you do we'll turn around and surprise you."

Indeed, Melford and Ehrlich have both surprised thus far- in crafting brands of ...

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Myra Melford - Marty Ehrlich: Yet Can Spring

by Glenn Astarita
March 1, 2001

With Yet Can Spring, two esteemed modern jazz virtuosos unite for their first ever duet outing. And while multi-woodwind expert Marty Ehrlich has recorded with pianist Myra Melford’s magnificent “Extended Ensemble”, the twosome tempers the climate with this altogether comprehensive presentation consisting of eight multihued and cleverly articulated portraitures.

The duo employs a layered yet democratic approach to the material via responsive dialogue and heaps of lyrically charged sentiment as they primarily adhere to a firmly rooted compositional mindset, while ...

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Myra Melford: Dance Beyond The Color

by Mark Corroto
May 1, 2000

My first exposure to pianist Myra Melford some years ago led me to believe she was a European jazz artist. Her Western European classical approach to the avant-garde keyboard was closer to Misha Mengelberg than Herbie Nichols. Recently, I learned she was born outside of Chicago and upon hearing her latest trio, Crush, I reinterpreted her percussive attack as US Grade “A” creative music. That is, if you can still credit jazz today as an American art form. Crush consists ...

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Myra Melford: Above Blue / The Same River, Twice

by Robert Spencer
December 1, 1999

Myra Melford's piano is a welter of extraordinary activity, although unlike some other players with her power, even when her playing is at its most furious it always seems to be melodically, not percussively, rooted. She is once again surrounded on this disc by cutting-edge modern jazz players, especially trumpeter Dave Douglas and reedman Chris Speed. Erik Friedlander's cello, in conjunction with the drums of Michael Sarin, lends a lightness to the rhythm. This group navigates Melford's rhythmically tenuous and ...