Released after a quarter century of recordings as a bandleader or collaborator, 2013's Life Carries Me This Way is Myra Melford's first solo piano album. In a sense, the album presents Melford's artistry in its boldest relief to date, with her pianism unmediated by other musicians -- yet there is another presence here, that of Sacramento artist Don Reich, a kindred spirit who passed away in 2010. Melford pays homage to her friend Reich by interpreting 11 of his drawings, abstract pieces that resonated deeply with her and evoked a range of compositional approaches, from conventional notation to graphic scoring. The music is most fully appreciated in tandem with the reproductions of Reich's works gracing the pages of the CD booklet, as Melford offers up her own unique perspective on the visuals. Opener "Park Mechanics" launches from a lovely, ringing ostinato into an instantly appealing melodic and chordal motif over her strong left-hand walking line. Infectiously rhythmic, this is earworm material that shades the pianist's more free-form explorations as she works her way through modal transitions and blues-tinged forays back toward the theme; her near rollick on the keys may lead some to imagine Reich's bold cubist lines as the machinery of life pulsing beneath surfaces of green (or, out in the open air, enthusiastic kids on playground equipment). The album continues with interpretations of Reich pieces ranging from completely nonrepresentational to landscapes and a "Disassembled Still Life," as Melford clearly reveals why she has found a devoted audience among listeners whose tastes run from post-Cecil Taylor free jazz to Keith Jarrett-flavored lyricism to the rhythmic drive of one of her mentors, Don Pullen -- and yet, while listeners may hear parallels between Melford and other creative jazz pianists, her artistic persona is utterly singular.
"Red Beach" is ruminative, elegant, and spacious music for ocean sunset viewing, while Melford's beautiful chording and single-note runs unfold against a swayingly rhythmic backdrop on the rather similarly contemplative "Red Land." Deep rumbling notes and chords introduce the flurried angularities and sharp jabs of "Piano Music" and form emerges gradually and delicately, surrounded by silence, in "Japanese Music," while Melford finds quirky and off-kilter places to store her theme's phrases in "Attic." One might hear echoes of another Melford mentor -- Henry Threadgill -- in "Curtain," if only in the piece's steady (yes, curtain-like) rise, as her block chords expand ever upward and outward before finally dissipating into ethereality. "Barcelona" and "Sagrada Familia" are, appropriately, companion drawings by Reich that Melford approaches in markedly different yet similarly abstract and complementary fashion, skittering around the upper-register keys in the former (suggesting a music-box improvisation on Monk's "Brilliant Corners") and ranging more widely across the keys on the latter (while flirting with "Misterioso"). Concluding with the aforementioned "Still Life," one of the pianist's loveliest melodies, Life Carries Me This Way adds new and welcome facets to Myra Melford's artistry, and new dimensions to the works of Don Reich as well. - Dave Lynch
Con Life Carries Me This Way la veterana Myra Melford (1957) se estrena con una grabación a piano solo. Para tan señalada ocasión la artista realiza un homenaje a su amigo el artista Don Reich, fallecido en 2010. Las composiciones de Melford surgen inspiradas en los cuadros que dan título a cada uno de los temas, y que se incluyen en el libreto del CD.
A lo largo de los once lienzos sonoros Melford va dejando muestra de su maestría a la hora de aplicar distintas técnicas a unas composiciones magníficas. El resultado da la impresión de tener detrás un gran trabajo fruto tanto de la reflexión, como del diálogo con Don Reich.
Cada uno de los temas es una pequeña gema diferente de las demás. Sumamente lírica en uno de los temas, a continuación puede establecer una agria e intensa discusión entre ambas manos. Si en una ocasión la mano izquierda crea una base rítmica perfecta para que la mano derecha se exhiba con un gran solo, otro tema puede ser un espacio perfecto para una excursión lenta por unos parajes llenos de belleza con aromas a música clásica. Crispada e intensa en algunos momentos, en otros puede ser suave y un tanto melancólica. Recomendable de principio a fin, Life Carries Me This Way es una lección magistral de jazz a piano solo. - Pachi Tapiz
Tracks
01. Park Mechanics
02. Red Beach
03. Red Land (For Don Reich)
04. Piano Music
05. Japanese Music
06. Attic
07. Curtain
08. Moonless Night
09. Barcelona
10. Sagrada Familia
11. Still Life
MYRA MELFORD piano
Music composed by Myra Melford
Recorded January 14, 2013 at Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT
Firehouse 12 Records – FH12-04-01-018