Myra Melford Extended Ensemble: Even the Sounds Shine

For this International Women's Day, this post highlights the vastly underappreciated pianist and bandleader Myra Melford, whose extended ensemble's recording of Even the Sounds Shine, recorded in 1994 and re-released on Hat Hut Records in 2003, is astounding in its compositional complexity, richness and diversity and in the playing by a remarkable quintent, including trumpeter Dave Douglas, alto saxophonist and clarinetist Marty Ehrlich, bassist Lindsey Horner and drummer Reggie Nicholson.

The title is taken fom a poem by Fernando Pessoa and Myford wrote in her liner notes that "I have this habit of collecting seemingly unrelated buts of information: a title, a texture, a melody or phrase, that somehow in my subconscious belong together.  It's through creation that the different elements become juxtaposed or integrated into a whole."  She was in Portugal just prior to recording the album and came across Pessoa's reference to "in broad daylight even the sounds shine," though it went beyond an apt title to some thing that struck Melford "as an idea that expresses music and as an idea that I'd like to express through my music."

She was later in Austria for a music festival and heard a bird singing in such a way that is sounded like a melding of Ornette Coleman and another underappreciated master, violinist Leroy Jenkins, and Melford transcribed what she heard.  She added that the next morning "I awoke to the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard" and that the bird and other animals were singing and making other sounds so that "the texture had a clarity, vitality and gentleness to it that was very moving."

There is an abundance of all three of those attributes on this amazing album and her trio of the time is enriched and diversified by the stunning playing of Douglas (whose work in John Zorn's Masada project has been featured here before) and Ehrlich (who has also been mentioned through his association with the great Julius Hemphill.) Nicholson, too, has appeared in this blog through the appreciation of two recordings by the sublime Henry Threadgill.  As for Melford, her incredible solo work, reminiscent of Cecil Taylor and Marilyn Crispell, but definitely with her own imprint, and her compositional brilliance, are wonders to behold.

There are few women in jazz who get the credit they deserve and Myra Melford is one of those who should have far more recognition for her achievements.

Anthony Braxton Quartet (Dortmund) 1976

For all of the amazing music, the prolific and profound Anthony Braxton has created for more than a half-century, it is hard to find any endeavor of his that was more exciting and accomplished as the quartet that lasted just a half of a year in 1976. Featuring the remarkable rhythm section of Dave Holland on bass and Barry Altschul on drums and percussion, with the leader playing his usual array of horns (alto, contrabass, and sopranino saxes, and Eb, contrabass and standard clarinet), the additional element that powered this ensemble was the introduction of the amazing George Lewis on trombone.

This Hat Hut release is from the inaugural Dortmund Jazz Festival held in Germany on Halloween and the group, which disbanded after a show in Berlin several days later, plays at a peak of precision, passion (not something usually associated with Braxton by critics), power and, fun (also not highlighted in reviews).  It helps that the group plays three versions of Composition 40, one of the most common pieces that Braxton played, and that the opener with version F is, through a Holland solo, transitioned to Composition 23J, another oft-performed work. The combined pieces take us on a stunning 26-minute journey, with a mind-blowing solo by Braxton that generates a burst of enthusisastic applause, with Lewis offering his own masterful solo after that!

Composition 40 (O) follows with some remarkable sounds, like birdcalls from Altschul and a panoply of "honks, grunts, quacks and howls" from Lewis and Braxton, "with Dave Holland tight on their tails," as expressed by Graham Lock in his thorough and enormously helpful notes.  Then there is Composition 6(C) which Braxton indicated "was composed to be a circus march type of music," though by the Dortmund concert "has provided an ideal vehicle for 'collage' improvisation."  This, Lock explains, means "a parade-ground melee" with the horns tossing off "marching riffs in glorious profusion."  Finally, there is Composition 40(B) which, Braxton observed, "was composed with respect to the implications" of such jazz giants as Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Lennie Tristano, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy— but with Braxton's unique perspective.

It must be said that, complicated as Braxton's concepts can be, Lock does as a good a job as can be expected at explaining what's behind this whirlwind's approaches.  As complex as Braxton's work is, and it can be daunting, suspending preconceptions of what jazz is supposed to be, much less other forms of music, and just letting him and his compatriots take you on their wild and wonderful journey can be highly rewarding.