Pianist Myra Melford has a voice all her own, she is a an anachronism, a musician whose compositional and playing styles embrace free music, tight arrangements and strong melodies all within the context of a single musical composition. Myra's music is deep yet playful, she creates koans of sound. Her music leaves plenty of space to encourage her fellow musicians to investigate the timbres of their instruments while guiding them within fluid structures that have direction, motion and completeness. Her music changes like the weather, sometimes quickly, sometimes lazily. Her compositions are multi-sectional, somewhat like architecture, with each section creating a room for her listeners to explore. Sometimes we enter a room that is a pure sound-scape: all texture and color. Sometimes we turn a corner and fall into a deep cathartic groove that holds us viscerally in a zone of pure experience. We are filled with anticipation, listening to her music, wondering what is behind this silver door, eagerly following the pied piper and her stellar musicians as they guide us up a free standing stairway of sound.
Myra Melford comes to the Vermont Jazz Center to present her sonic castles on Friday, February 14th at 8:00 PM. She brings with her a quartet she calls “Be-Bread," that includes VJC friend, bassist Stomu Takieshi, trumpeter Cuong Vu and Drummer Joe Tomino. “Be bread" is taken from the poet/phillospopher/spiritual leader, Rumi who said “if you have not been fed, be bread." All of these musicians have played with Myra for an extended time and understand her music's call for a delicate balance of precision and freedom. The music demands superior reading skills and a focused attention to detail while at the same time encourages a high level of improvisational ability that is based on creating an appropriate statement using one's own sound within the constructs of a given composition.
Myra Melford's background is filled with journeys throughout the world, performing in festivals too numerous to mention, appearing on television and radio (Marion McParland's Piano Jazz), collaborating with multi-media artists on huge events in the US and abroad and more. In 2000, Melford received a Fulbright Scholarship to study North Indian music on the harmonium with Sohanlal Sharma in Calcutta. Her training has included an extended tenure with the singular pianist, Don Pullen. She has worked and recorded as a side-person with Henry Threadgill, Butch Morris, Joseph Jarman, Leroy Jenkins and others. She has recorded ten CDs as a leader, employing such notable musicians as Dave Douglas and Erik Friedlander.
Bassist Stomu Takieshi has performed several times at the Vermont Jazz Center, most recently with Badal Roy. A charter member of Henry Threadgill's demanding ensembles, Stomu is well known in the jazz scene in New York. He has performed or recorded with Paul Motian's Electric Bebop band, Dave Tronzo, Mick Goodrick, Dave Liebman and others. Trumpeter Cuong Vu has been called “one of the most distinctive stylists on New York's Downtown music scene" by Downbeat magazine. He is best known for his recent recording work with guitar guru, Pat Metheny, but has performed and or recorded with Laurie Anderson, Dave Douglas, and many others. Cuong is heavily influenced by saxophonist Joe Maneri, who appeared at the Vermont Jazz Center this fall. Drummer Joe Tomino brings youthful vigor and intensity to the band. He has performed or recorded with such artists as Steven Bernstein, Joe Maneri, Wayne Kranz, Del Amitri and others.
Pianist Myra Melford and “be bread" will perform at the Vermont Jazz Center on Friday, February 14th . Tickets for this concert are $12.00 general admission, $8.00 for students and seniors. Add $2.00 to tickets purchased at the door. Tickets may be purchased at Mainly Music or Maple Leaf Music in Brattleboro, VT, or may be reserved by calling the Vermont Jazz Center at (802) 254 9088. Reservations are strongly recommended.
Vermont Jazz Center
74 Cotton Mill Hill, #222
Brattleboro,VT, 05301
www.vtjazz.org
For more information contact All About Jazz.
