A Pianist Mapping New Territory Live
Melford charts her own development in transition, with possibilities and problems resolved, transmuted, or abandoned.
Even the Sounds Shine puts you in a room where Myra Melford's piano opens up conversations instead of shutting them down. Dave Douglas on trumpet and Marty Ehrlich on alto saxophone and clarinet circle her ideas rather than chase them, while Lindsey Horner's bass and Reggie Nicholson's drums move with the caution of players listening hard to what's actually being said. The textures are spacious—long stretches where nothing rushes—and the overall mood is exploratory without being aimless. Melford had spent years in trio settings, and this live recording captures her moving into something wider and stranger, with five voices instead of three.
Recorded in Germany in 1994, the album documents a moment when Melford was actively reshaping her compositional voice. The pieces don't follow familiar post-bop grooves or standard changes. Instead, they unfold with a kind of deliberate uncertainty, as if the ensemble is discovering the shape of each tune as they play it. Horner's bass work is particularly inventive—less walking than conversing, leaving gaps for others to fill. Douglas and Ehrlich complement each other without doubling, and Melford's piano anchors the sessions without dominating them, which takes real restraint.
AllMusic reviewer Thom Jurek captured it well: this is a historical document of Melford's growth as a composer, a beautifully guided tour through her musical thinking at a point of real transition. Not every moment lands with equal weight, and the open-ended approach won't appeal to listeners wanting clearer narrative arc. But for anyone interested in how a pianist thinks through ensemble problems in real time, or in what happens when composition meets the irreplaceable intelligence of live performance, this record has plenty to offer.
Who's playing
Lindsey Hornerbass
Myra Melfordpiano
Marty Ehrlichalto saxophone, clarinet
Dave Douglastrumpet
Reggie Nicholsondrums
Where next?
More by Myra Melford
All 18 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
