Tag Archives: myra melford

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 →

Myra Melford, Snowy Egret: A Trip Away from the Ordinary

Myra-Melford-Snowy-Egret-Cover-Art-300x270Myra Melford, Snowy Egret
(Enja/Yellowbird)
A Review

When I first heard that pianist/composer Myra Melford was working on a project whose inspiration was the Memory of Fire trilogy by Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano, the blood rushed to my ears in anticipation of what I would hear. A masterwork of profound scholarship and imagination, Memory of Fire presents a highly refracted history of the Americas in short, vivid entries drawn from indigenous myths and memories and from written accounts by those who found their way to the New World and stayed—a hemispheric diary that stretches from pre-Columbian civilizations into the 20th century. Inspired by the trilogy, Melford created a multimedia piece, Language of Dreams, that illuminates Galeano’s words with music, video, dance, and recitation. The 10 tracks on Snowy Egret (Enja/Yellowbird) present an instrumental version of most of that music, with the same stunning band assembled for the original project—Ron Miles (trumpet), Liberty Ellman (guitar), Stomu Takeishi (bass), and Tyshawn Sorey (drums). Pulling from a musical palette that includes East Indian, African, European, and Latin and Northern American influences, the wizard Melford has created an exceptional work whose scholarship and imagination are worthy of the book that inspired it. Continue reading →

A Sustained Synesthesia

Myra Melford, Life Carries Me This Way (Firehouse 12 Records)

018_cover-e1375113936461-300x300

Pianist Myra Melford came through town
recently, appearing at the Outpost as a
member of drummer Allison Miller’s group Boom Tic Boom. When she sat down at the piano, I wondered if all the piano teachers in the room were cringing, because her seat was set so low that she had to reach up to get her hands on the keyboard. Glenn Gould is the only other pianist I’ve seen who sits so low, but neither his nor Melford’s expressive abilities seem to be compromised by the
unorthodox elevation.

I spoke briefly with her after the show, and shaking her hand, I was reminded just how diminutive she is. Her hands are quite small by
pianist standards, but that doesn’t seem to get in her way, either. She brings a ton of
inspiration and information to the piano, and she has enough of a reach to get to some very interesting and unexpected places in your ear.

She confessed to being nervous about her new album, Life Carries Me This Way, because first, the subject matter is close to her heart, and second, it’s her first solo recording. It’s remarkable that so mature, inquisitive, thoughtful, and well-established an artist as Melford—a 2013 Guggenheim Fellow and Doris Duke Performing Artist Award winner—has never ventured into the studio alone. I’m glad she did, and she’s got nothing to be nervous about.

Continue reading →