And suddenly, i thought, same river twice would be a great name for a band. Myra melford is an american avantgarde jazz pianist and composer. My first encounter with myra melford was in 1997 when she was promoting the same river twice, her debut cd with the quintet of the same name. Apr 25, 2019 the trumpetercomposer is about twothirds of the way through a crazy fall of recording, touring and workshopping on both sides of the pond. The same river, twice is an album by pianist myra melford which was recorded in 1996 and released on the gramavision label. Myra melford s the same river, twice equal interest myra melford s the tent allison millers boom tic boom myra melford extended ensemble myra melford trio myra melford s be bread myra melford s crush trio m. Bay area pianist myra melford whom the new yorker called a stalwart of the newjazz movement has spent the last three decades making brilliant original music, in equal parts challenging and engaging. Myra melford wins fulbright to study harmonium in india mtv. Sold by roundabout books new england fulfilled by amazon. Straight ahead jazz camp 2017 special guest artists. After recording a set of balkantinged compositions with accordionist guy klucevsek in new york in september, he joined pianist myra melfords the same river twice for a twoweek, 14date european. Here too, it is all about the natural flow of things and the flux of the music. A 20 guggenheim fellow, melford was described by the san francisco chronicle as an explosive player, a virtuoso who shocks and soothes, and who can make the piano stand up and do things it doesnt seem to have been designed for. His debut cd explores his jazz, contemporary classical and balkaninspired compositions with a subtle, simmering kind of freedom.
The same river, twice gramavision, 1996 above blue arabesque, 1999 with mike patton. A bag of shells tzadik, 2010 with wadada leo smith. Her new material is written for quintet, and the pieces sustain greater length and a more episodic. Myra melford the same river, twice peter apfelbaum luminous charms oranj symphonette plays mancini bill frisellkermit driscolljoey baron live.
Cutting between footage of their youthful, often naked, unscheduled lives and the complex realities of their adulthood today, the film creates a compelling portrait of cultural. That vehicle ending up being the same river, twice, featuring melford, douglas, chris speed on saxophone and clarinet, michael sarin on drums and cellist erik friedlander, whose flexible instrument could fulfill bass functions or act more melodically alongside the horns. Besides more than 40 albums under his leadership, he coleads a quintet he coleads a quintet joe lovano, has been in the front line of john zorns masada quartet, and was a member of myra melfords same river twice. This newly created duo project is the latest in a long list of collaborations between ms. Squidco sells cds, dvds, vinyl lps and magazines of unusual music in the fields of improvisation, compositional music, experimental, chamber rock, and rock in opposition.
Promo shot for 1996s the same river, twice left to right. Her only release on the gramavision label, the same river, twice nicely exemplifies the mix with a selection of sprawling, exploratory numbers and shorter, more straightforward pieces. Musically, neither likes to step in the same river, twice. One day, forever arkadia jazz, 1999 2001 with myra melford. Shes an instructor currently associate professor of contemporary improvised music, ucberkeley. Chris speed is a composer, clarinetist and saxophonist and is one of the principal figures in a dynamic leftofcenter jazzimprov scene in the city nytimes. Premiered myra melfords the same river twice in 1995 at roulette intermedium in new york, new york. Tenor saxclarinettist chris speed coleads human feel and is a member of tim bernes bloodcount and myra melfords the same river, twice. Pianist myra melford, one of the most heralded players to emerge from the cuttingedge new york jazz scene in the 80s, has won a fulbright award to study the harmonium in india the scholarship. Her music is a challenging, sometimesmelancholy affair without a hint of sentimentality. Myra melford the same river twice, changes i au 221k real audio 28. In 1978, on a breathtaking trip in the grand canyon, filmmaker robb moss and a group of freespirited friends and lovers took a monthlong trip down the colorado river. Click on any image below to download a 300 dpi jpeg.
Myra melford s second outing with her quintet the same river, twice is an impressive statement of both her stylistic range and her generosity as a bandleader. His own bands include endangered blood, human feel, yeah no, trio iffy, pachora and the clarinets he is a founding member of jim blacks alas no axis and john hollenbecks claudia quintet two of the most. Also, on of myra melfords bands is also called the same river twice, alluding to greek philosopher heraclitus saying that you cant bathe in the same river twice, because the water is different all the time. Shes a band leader, fronting quintets such as the extended ensemble. Id have to say my favourite projects of myras are the same river twice both albums.
With cuong vu trumpet, skuli sverrisson electric bass and jim black drums. Also, on of myra melford s bands is also called the same river twice, alluding to greek philosopher heraclitus saying that you cant bathe in the same river twice, because the water is different all the time. That vehicle ending up being the same river, twice, featuring melford, douglas, chris speed on saxophone and clarinet, michael sarin on drums and cellist erik friedlander, whose flexible instrument could fulfill bass functions or act more melodically. Considering the bay area composerpianist myra melfords music. Jun 01, 2015 myra melford, the large ends the way 1995 duration. Contemporary jazz, modern creative web myra melford. Modern creative, avantgarde, free jazz myra melford. The trumpetercomposer is about twothirds of the way through a crazy fall of recording, touring and workshopping on both sides of the pond. Above blue youtube sleep music 247, insomnia, sleep meditation, calm music, sleep therapy, spa, relax, study, sleep body. Walker had just published a book by the name the same river twice.
While providing a substantial amount of notated material, i still leave much room for the performers own expression. Heres another clip of the same river twice, my band from the midlate 90s, featuring dave douglas on trumpet, chris speed on tenor saxophone, erik friedlander on cello and michael sarin on drums. The same river twice official site the same river twice. Arrangements for the same river twice right now here from ebay. Shortly after that i realized that alice walker had just published a book by the name the same river twice.
Listenin to jazz and conversation page 5 steve hoffman. Chicagos pianist myra melford 1957, who moved to new york in 1984, debuted with the solopiano meditations one for now august 1986 but established herself as a poignant composer in the vein of henry threadgill with a trio that recorded jump june 1990, now and now august 1991 and the live alive in the house of saints february 1993. In a trio setting, clarity isnt superceded by her message. The reference to water is of course not a coincidence. Melford has a winning track record with chamberlike fivepiece bands. Myra melfords the same river, twice equal interest myra melfords the tent allison millers. Nov 01, 2019 i had been writing the music for the same river, twice, and i knew who the players were going to be, but i hadnt named the band yet. May 01, 2009 the reference to water is of course not a coincidence. In jazztimes, bill shoemaker wrote it was the same river, twices 96 eponymous gramavision disc that the triohoned, catalytic capacity of her elegantly knotted thematic materials and wild cardlike structural features was fully realized with a larger group. Contemporary jazz, modern creative web myra melford with. Bear this in mind when you seehear the videos at the bottom of this post. Pianist and composer myra melford is one of the most distinctive voices in todays jazz, drawing from american vernacular musics to create music that is lean, lithe and appealing wall street journal a serial awardwinner, she makes a longawaited foray into the uk celebrating the november release of a new recording on firehouse 12 records, with a band that displays her ability to.
Walkers journal, the liner notes she wrote for the soundtrack album, a summary of the protests from the coalition against black exploitation concerning the way the book and the film treated sexual relations. Included in the same river twice are entries from ms. Heres another clip of the same river twice, my band from the midlate 90s, featuring dave douglas on trumpet, chris speed on tenor. My grandmother bc records, 2004 music by beth custer. Their selftitled debut album was released on gramavision in 1996, followed by 1999s above blue on arabesque. Myra melfords studies with avantbop pianist don pullen and idiosyncratic jazz composer henry threadgill are reflected in the seamless combination of structure and free improvisation in both her writing and piano playing. Two but live myra melford youtube the strawberry from handul of keys jlco with wynton marsalis ft.
She also formed a second fivepiece, the same river, twice, featuring douglas, cellist erik friedlander, reed player chris speed, and drummer michael sarin. The complex arrangements for her quintet, same river twice, are often thick and take patient repeated listens to deal with. Myra melford the same river, twice 1996, cd discogs. Straight ahead jazz camp 2017 jazz institute of chicago. With her potent quintet the same river, twice, she is the fuse for explosions of deep group interaction, offering visceral harmonic statements while injecting her busy, dancing, at times pensive, and occasionally clusterladen outspoken style to the forefront, its territory mapped by very few. Purchase the same river twice at extraordinary costs. Myra melfords second outing with her quintet the same river, twice is an impressive statement of both her stylistic range and her generosity as a bandleader. The same river twice, both as an ensemble and as a set of compositions, grew out my desire to place myself in a new musical environment. Mzm by miya masaoka, zeena parkins, myra melford, released 11 august 2017 1. Their previous work together includes her be bread ensemble, which recorded 2010s the whole tree gone firehouse 12 records, and his orphic machine, which performs an original song cycle based on the poetical writings of allen grossman. Aug 08, 2015 heres another clip of the same river twice, my band from the midlate 90s, featuring dave douglas on trumpet, chris speed on tenor saxophone, erik friedlander on cello and michael sarin on drums.
Oct 08, 1996 the same river, twice gramavision is ms. He also operates his own innovative record label, greenleaf music. Sep 01, 2016 all this talk about myra melford put me in the mood to listen to one of her albums myra melford the same river, twice chris speed saxophone, clarinet dave douglas trumpet erik friedlander cello michael sarin drums myra melford piano, harmonium. A 20 guggenheim fellow, melford was described by the san. Myra melford biography, albums, streaming links allmusic. Pianist myra melford, a crafty original whose playing is filled with muscle, brains and poetic spark, invites a host of talented friends to join her at a sixni. He was also director of the gramavision records label for rykodisc for three years during the mid1990s hans wendl has produced the recordings of. Myra melford the same river twice above blue 1999, cd.
The stone residency myra melford trio with lindsey horner and reggie nicholson. The same river twice the stone residency same river twice. Myra melford, the large ends the way 1995 duration. Rosette ten improvised pieces from three of the most innovative instrumentalists at work today, blending harp, piano, and koto with electronic sounds. Throughout the nineties his formidable improvisational approach on both tenor saxophone and clarinet contributed to other pioneering nyc bands including the dave douglas sextet witness, soul on soul, sanctuary, stargazer, in our lifetime, myra melfords same river twice above blue, where the two worlds touch john zorn bar kokhba. Myra melford is one of jazz treasures and has accomplished quite a bit during her 10 year tenure within the modern jazz scene. The new trio of myra melford, zeena parkins, and miya masaoka is. Meanwhile, melford appeared as an improvisational collaborator on a pair of albums. The same river, twice myra melfords the same river. Above blue myra melfords the same river, twice songs. In fact, it was the band, consisted of some of the most exciting musicians from the downtown ny scene dave douglas t, erik friedlander clo, michael sarin d and chris speed ts, bb cl that has led me to melford, but i was soon made aware that i. Myra melfords snowy egret taps into dreams the new.
Chris speed, erik friedlander, dave douglas, michael sarin, myra melford. Myra melford is equally comfortable performing a blues tune, jamming. Myra melfords the same river, twice equal interest myra melfords the tent allison millers boom tic boom myra melford extended ensemble myra melford trio myra melfords be. Melfords same river twice band is a bold yet deeply personalized statement from this brilliant pianistcomposer.
All this talk about myra melford put me in the mood to listen to one of her albums myra melford the same river, twice chris speed saxophone, clarinet dave douglas trumpet erik friedlander cello michael sarin drums myra melford piano, harmonium. Each piece is alsoon the album, but the album versions really are different. He began his career in the music business with the record label ecm records in his hometown of munich in the mid1970s and was associated with the german label for twelve years before moving to the united states in 1986. I had been writing the music for the same river, twice, and i knew who the players were going to be, but i hadnt named the band yet. The pianist embraces the jazz avantgarde, but she also knows the value of a catchy tune.