Artists
-
Elliot Humberto Kavee
drums
-
Myra Melford
Pno, Harmonium
-
Brandon Ross
electric guitar, banjo
-
Stomu Takeishi
-
Cuong Vu
trumpet
|
CG 131
The Image of Your Body
Myra Melford and Be Bread
Pianist Myra Melford is one of the most inspiring women musicians in jazz today. Her new CD The Image of Your Body features Cuong Vu, the trumpeter in The Pat Metheny Group, with guitarist Brandon Ross, bassist Stomu Takeishi, and drummer Elliot Humberto Kavee. A veteran of the New York Downtown scene, this CD is Myra Melford's debut release on Cryptogramophone. This ensemble collectively known as Be Bread, will be performing on both coasts in 2006-2007.
This CD is available now!
Reviews
-
In the early 90’s, this improvising pianist and composer moved to the Bay Area and started getting seriously into Indian music, studying the harmonium as a solo instrument. This album, “The Image of Your Body,” by her recently convened band, Be Bread, is the definitive statement of her new phase: long, slowly unfolding, rapturous themes, crossed with the jagged metrical discipline of new jazz.
Ben Ratliff New York Times [September 10, 2006]
-
Myra Melford is a very accomplished musician. Her new album with her latest ensemble, "Be Bread," is a beautiful voyage. The sound flows clearly and honestly; this is a wonderful work of sonic passion. The emotions are layered as thickly as the instruments; it's a well thought out piece of music. It is off beat, interesting and like nothing I've heard before. There's a lot to this and it's certainly worth a listen.
Drew Mulkins TheCelebrityCafe.com [09/12/06]
-
It's been a couple of years since pianist Myra Melford released the broad-scoped, orchestral Where the Two Worlds Touch (Arabesque, 2004) by her group The Tent. Since then she's relocated to Berkeley from New York and, if anything, the duality of her previous record is explored in even greater detail on The Image of Your Body, featuring her new group, Be Bread. It's no surprise, given that the new disc was recorded only eight months after the Arabesque session. That it's taken nearly three years to get released is the real surprise, though it’s good news that she's hooked up with Cryptogramophone, a label that seems to stretch its boundaries of experimentation further with each new release.
The core of Be Bread consists of Melford on piano and harmonium, bassist Stomu Takeishi and drummer Elliot Humberto Kavee, but it's really two quartets -- one featuring textural trumpeter Cuong Vu, the other guitarist Brandon Ross. Takeishi and Vu were members of The Tent, so there's a logical progression to Be Bread, but also significant differences as well, most notably a continued path towards episodic composition.
"Equal Grace" shifts gears a number of times, opening spaciously around Takeishi's repetitive pattern and Melford’s warm harmonium. Building gradually as Vu ranges from the abstractly textural to the lyrical, it evolves into a dervish-like rhythm where Melford begins to interact more closely with Vu, leading into a snakelike theme that sets the stage for Melford's solo, bridging the gap between East and West.
Melford's writing may be episodic, but every piece evolves naturally from one section to the next. "Luck Shifts" begins with Ross creating textural swells underneath her folkloric piano, but moves into darker territory, with Ross' biting solo voice layered over Melford's simple changes and Takeishi's interactive foundation. Ross cues into the next section with a melodic phrase that, again, seems to bridge cultures. Melford first created most of this music on melodica, making it the most consistently lyrical record of her career. Her piano solo on "Luck Shifts" is the definition of elegant simplicity.
That's not to say she's totally divorced herself from freer concerns. But while there are moments where the group breaks down into more vigorous chaos they are relatively brief and reflect, as Melford says in her liner notes, "layers of simultaneous activity, not unlike life in modern-day India." There may be underlying form throughout, but there’s also a persistent "in the moment" philosophy. Amongst a group of extraordinarily strong improvisers, Ross stands out, especially during the evolving intensity of his work on the rubato "To the Roof."
The Image of Your Body is proof that one's spiritual quest is inherently reflected in one's music. It's another superb release from Melford, whose evolution from a more aggressive free player to an equally unencumbered melodist is a path well worth following.
John Kelman All About Jazz [9/25/06]
-
Myra Melford is a name we should all know. Before taking on this review, I was woefully ignorant of the avant garde jazz pianist/composer, despite the dozen albums she's released prior to the excellent The Image of Your Body, which is co-credited to her quartet Be Bread. Along with Melford's magnificent piano playing and fascinating Indian-inspired harmonium performances, the ensemble's melodic duties are shared by either guitarist/banjoist Brandon Ross, or Cuong Vu on trumpet and electronics. Stomu Takeishi lends his acoustic and electric bass skills, while Elliot Humberto Kavee is a varied and sympathetic drummer. Although the entire disc is at least moderately challenging compositionally, it kicks off with "Equal Grace," a harmonium-led track that is among the least accessible on the record. But it's also a great work. Take it as a sign marked "buyer beware", a gauntlet thrown, or, if you like a little hard-hitting adventure in your jazz, an invitation to an album that is artful and intelligent. And, oh yes, it definitely swings.
Michael Keefe Pop Matters [10/20/06]
-
This recent release depicts pianist Myra Melford's forward thinking musical persona. Teeming with stealthy undercurrents, ethereal treatments and resonating choruses, the pianist also fuses a polytonal world-beat vibe into jazzy intonations. A divergent affair, Melford and her quintet paint a multihued framework throughout this acoustic-electric session.
She picks up the harmonium in spots, as Middle Eastern modalities merge with a slanted spin on Americana, where guitarist Brandon Ross switches to banjo on "Be Bread." Otherwise, the musicians' tight-knit and sinuous unison lines are counterbalanced by a loose-groove mindset, often executed with flourishing crescendos and emphatic soloing maneuvers. Moreover, Ross' angular and distortion-based single note flurries inject a sense of wonderment during the piece titled "To The Roof."
With some genre-hopping to complement trumpeter Cuong Vu's steamy phrasings and other elements, Melford continues to hone her distinctive jazz-oriented vernacular. It's a superfine effort, indeed. . .
Glenn Astarita EJazz News [10/24/06]
-
Myra Melford is ever in search of new stimulation. She composed this music after studying the harmonium in India, which left a deep impression. Many of the album's best moments come from when she abandons the piano to squeeze out drones on the harmonium. It provides a billowing backdrop to Cuong Vu's brooding melody on the opener, "Equal Grace," and blends with Brandon Ross's Eastern-tinged banjo plucking on the title cut. She even puts it to rhythmic use on "Be Bread," grounding the airy lattice of Elliot Humberto Kavee's percussive fingers.
By comparison, Melford seem uncertain what sort of an album she wants to make when she returns to her original keyboard. She opens and closes "Yellow are Crowds of Flowers, ii" with a figure so fussy you want to give it a Swiffer and have it dust your living room floor. They have nothing to do with the tumultuous clusters she plays in between them, and the two approaches cancel each other out rather than offering an intriguing contrast. Melford conceived these compositions as quartet music, but she did not tether them to specific instrumentation. To prove the point, he's split the album between Vu and Ross. The strategy yields mixed results; both players sound their best when they decide not to play it straight. Some ruthless editing would have made The Image of Your Body a much better record.
Bill Meyer Downbeat [December 2006]
|
