Author Archives: Mel Minter

Myra Melford: The Snowy Egret Interview

Myra Melford at the piano. Photo by Michael Wilson.

Myra Melford at the piano. Photo by Michael Wilson.

Pianist/composer and Guggenheim fellow Myra Melford’s latest instrumental project, Snowy Egret (Enja/Yellowbird) (reviewed here), was inspired by the late Eduardo Galeano’s Memory of Fire trilogy. In response to the Uruguayan author’s masterpiece, Melford created a multimedia piece, Language of Dreams, which she then distilled into 10 instrumental tracks, featuring Ron Miles (trumpet), Liberty Ellman (guitar), Stomu Takeishi (bass), and Tyshawn Sorey (drums). This week, she is bringing that top-drawer collection of musicians to the Outpost, and I had the
opportunity to speak with her about the music and related topics. She has a ready laugh and a rushing need to answer questions fully and completely—in an almost girlish speaking voice that, like her music, carries a permanent sense of wonder. Continue reading →

Different Strokes: Louie Belogenis’s ‘Blue Buddha’ and Shai Maestro’s ‘Untold Stories’

jpegLouie Belogenis’s Blue Buddha, Blue
Buddha (Tzadik Records)
A Review

On Blue Buddha (Tzadik Records), Louie
Belogenis, the free-blowing Buddhist
saxophonist, teams up with Dave Douglas, the shape-shifting trumpeter, to embark on a what is billed as a sort of spiritual ceremony,
supported by the luminous, effects-driven electric bass of Bill Laswell and the spacious, clean, intense drumming of Tyshawn Sorey. Continue reading →

Baracutanga: Dance-Worthy and Ear-Worthy

Baracutanga coverBaracutanga, Importados
A Review

You don’t need to know a cumbia from a
festejo from a candombe to dig Importados, the first full-length album from Albuquerque’s rhythm wizards, Baracutanga. A seven-piece band whose members come from as far north as Kansas and as far south as Bolivia, Baracutanga mixes South American rhythms in innovative ways, making unusual rhythmic combinations that might also include Middle Eastern and Cuban forms. They incorporate folkloric instruments, such as the quena, an Andean flute, and top it off with modern North American harmonies and instruments—electric guitar, vibes—to create a unique and highly danceable fusion.

The album’s sheer musicality might come as a surprise to those who know the band only as a high-energy live act that fills the dance floor. Yes, you can play the album at high volume and dance till you drop, but you can also settle back in your easy chair and appreciate the
craftsmanship of the writing and arranging, the attention to detail, and the sonic textures. Recorded in four different studios in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Cadiz, Spain, the album
features more than 50 instruments and 25 musical styles, and just about every one of those
instruments and styles finds just the right place. Continue reading →

Finding the Real in the Weird

FABIO_ALBUM_COVERFloozy, His Name Is Fabio (Flophouse Records)
A Review

On their second release, His Name Is Fabio (Flophouse Records), the trio Floozy—
Bronson Elliot (acoustic guitar, accordion,
vocals), Tanya Nuñez (bass, background
vocals), and Lauren Addario (drums)—
continues their exploration of the truly weird corners of the human heart. The subjects of most of their tightly focused songs—a bird on a wire; a murderer; a desperado; unfulfilled obsessives, one knee-deep in baby diapers and another armed with plastic cups and a highway overpass; an uncertain lover, a long-suffering friend—are warped, and so are the songs. Lyrics are crammed into tight spaces. Line breaks fall midword. Odd rhythmic patterns and chord
progressions and a complete disregard for genre—you’ll find rock, folk, classical, punk, tango, and pop—defy a listener’s expectations.

In short, these songs break the rules, and that’s why they work. With broken rules and minimal instrumentation—made possible by Nuñez’s edgy, expressive bass—Floozy has developed a compelling signature sound, creating evocative musical settings. What’s more, their warped, wounded, and weird subjects open real insights into the human heart that apply, sometimes uncomfortably, to all of us normal people. Continue reading →

What The What: a Small Gem

What the What_coverAlbums like the eponymously titled What The What serve to remind us, if we needed
reminding, that we needn’t travel to New York, Los Angeles, or Wherever The Wherever to hear top-drawer music—not if we live in Santa Fe or Albuquerque anyway. What The What—a trio featuring J.Q. Whitcomb
(trumpet), Jon Gagan (bass), and Robby
Rothschild (percussion)—could play
anywhere, and each of them has, in one
aggregation or another.

The album includes five compositions from Gagan and one from Whitcomb. They are all straightforward, easily accessible tunes, and they all have quirks that hook pleasantly into the ear. The performances ride on Gagan’s rhythmic horse, propelled by Rothschild’s unobtrusive percussion, and against that rhythmic foundation, Whitcomb’s long, lyrical lines create a nice musical tension. Continue reading →