At its best music should transcend any technical evaluation; it should just be. All too often people (read: critics) assess the skill involved in creating a specific work, forgetting about whether or not it succeeds on purely a gut level. Pianist Myra Melford's latest project, The Tent, manages to rise above such pedestrian considerations, instead demanding that it be considered wholly on the basis of spiritual and emotional reaction. The question of what happens at the nexus point Where the Two Worlds Touch is answered at the most metaphysical of levels.
But what are the two worlds to which Melford refers? One possibility is the spiritual and the secular; another might be the intellectual and the physical; last might be the western world and points elsewhere. And what happens where these two worlds touch? Sometimes a confluence of ideas and other times sheer confusion. Melford's music contains elements of all these things.
From the abstract beauty of "Eight" to the urban sprawl of the title track, to the organized chaos of "Brainfire and Buglight," Melford and the ensemble look for the juncture. "Where the Ocean Misquotes the Sky" finds Melford on harmonium, in tandem with Chris Speed on clarinet, creating a lavish texture that leads into a rubato exploration of the place where east meets west as the piece develops into a slight funk feel.
Trumpeter Cuong Vu lends some otherworldly timbres through his extended techniques; bassist Stomu Takeishi continues to demonstrate that the electric bass, in the right hands, can be every bit as organic as an acoustic instrument. Kenny Wollesen manages to cover the territory between overt rhythm and sheer anarchy.
The album closes with "No News At All," which most clearly ties together the spiritual and the secular; the urban sprawl of western civilization and the chaotic marketplaces of the Middle East. Clearly there is a place where these two worlds touch; one need only look for it.
At the end of the day Where the Two Worlds Touch is not about any individual player's contributions; the album is, given the small size of the ensemble, remarkably orchestral in scope, with shifting rhythms, textures and musical shapes. As cerebral as it sometimes gets, it is an album to be experienced on the most visceral of levels. It requires abolishing preconceptions of how music should be and where it should go; it demands nothing short of full and complete attention; but the rewards are many for those who dare. - John Kelman / allaboutjazz.com
Inspired by the poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi, pianist/composer Myra Melford has constructed an intriguing and colorful suite of original music for this CD. The music ranges from the impressionistic and the picturesque to fiery sections. Although avant-garde by nature, there are melodic stretches, logical development, and plenty of contrast. While "Eight" is a quiet moody piece with Melford's piano backed by the ensemble and "Where the Two Worlds Touch" is a superior tribute to Andrew Hill (sounding just like one of Hill's complex pieces), "Brainfire and Buglight" is full of explosive ensembles and fire. "Where the Ocean Misquotes the Sky" matches trumpeter Cuong Vu's bizarre tonal distortions with Chris Speed's clarinet and Melford's harmonium before developing into a powerful statement by the leader on piano. "Secrets to Tell You" features bass guitarist Stomu Takeishi while the band plays the mournful theme slowly. The brief "Everything Today" is a bit more lighthearted, "Hello Dreamers" (dedicated to Lester Bowie) is a dramatic and episodic work, while "No News at All" ends the project on a celebratory if quirky note. Overall, this is one of Melford's most ambitious and successful projects to date. - Scott Yanow / allmusic.com
Myra Melford’s advanced pianism and the exquisitely deployed harmonies in her playing and arrangements are the main sources of fascination on Where the Two Worlds Touch. Inspired by works of the 13th-century Persian poet Jelaluddin Rumi, the music ranges from quiet contemplation to storms of free collective improvisation. Melford’s keyboard touch and her use of dynamics and closely bunched chords are replicated in the writing for her quintet, which she calls the Tent. Her voicings for piano, tenor saxophone or clarinet (Chris Speed) and trumpet (Cuong Vu) are enriched by the ensemble use of a bass guitar (Stomu Takeishi) in the range and with the fullness of a tuba or bass trombone.
Most of the tracks have a Middle Eastern mystical cast, but “No News at All” generates the swirling energy of southern Indian street music. “Everything Today” modulates through a boppish theme into something like a West Indian dance, shifts into a section of free playing, expands the modified cycle-of-fifths pattern with which it started and concludes abruptly on a note of exhilaration, all in two-and-a-half minutes. It is an impressive display of tightly controlled writing.
Melford’s soloing is replete with her customary energy, imagination and technique. It has remarkable tonal and emotional variety, particularly on “Where the Two Worlds Touch,” in which she and drummer Kenny Wollesen develop what amounts to a joint solo. Her use of the harmonium, with its hurdy-gurdy tonality, invests “Where the Ocean Misquotes the Sky” and “No News at All” with an exotic, old-fashioned character.
“Brainfire and Buglight” and “Where the Ocean Misquotes the Sky” feature the trumpet and the bass guitar making sounds like those of injured or outraged animals. It’s the sort of free playing that is more fun to do than to hear. Those sections are not as long as they seem. - Doug Ramsey / jazztimes.com
Tracks
1. Eight
2. Where The Two Worlds Touch (For Andrew Hill)
3. Brainfire And Buglight
4. Where The Ocean Misquotes The Sky
5. Secrets To Tell You
6. Everything Today
7. Hello Dreamers (For Lester Bowie)
8. No News At All
CHRIS SPEED clarinet, tenor saxophone
STOMU TAKEISHI electric and acoustic bass guitars
KENNY WOLLESEN drums
COUNG VU trumpet
MYRA MELFORD piano, harmonium
Music composed by Myra Melford
Recorded April 16 & 17, 2003, NYC
Arabesque Jazz – AJ0159