MYRA MELFORD — Snowy Egret (review)

MYRA MELFORD — Snowy Egret album cover Album · 2015 · 21st Century Modern Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Matt
It is a new Quintet for this 2015 release for pianist Myra Melford named “Snowy Egret” with the album titled the same comprising some highly interesting artists from today’s Modern Jazz scene. Ron Miles is playing cornet, Liberty Ellman, guitar, Stomu Takeishi is on Bass and Tyshawn Sorey is drumming with all these artists having a mix of individual experience at times with Bill Frissell, Henry Threadgill, John Zorn, Anthony Braxton, Vijay Iyer, Eric Friedlander, Roscoe Mitchell which gives a bit of a hint to the style of Jazz the band performs. Myra’s compositions within the album were inspired from Eduardo Galeano’s literary work Memoria Del Fuego ( Memory Of Fire trilogy) on colonialism in Latin America and it’s relevant poetry with the actual title for her project being “Language of Dreams” where in concert it was presented with the addition of dance, visuals, poetry but here for the album it is just the Jazz.

Of course it is all about composition incorporated by Myra into the album’s structure with fairly up tempo time with repetition used in the opening track ‘Language” having some great added input from Liberty Ellman on guitar and Ron Miles’ cornet and for the following number “Night Of Sorrow” it is introspection laced with reminiscence with beautiful input from Myra added on piano. “Promised Land” contains great interplay between the band with Myra getting out the Melodica for the following “Ching Ching/ For The Love Of Fruit” with some really interesting results within the track and perhaps one of my favourites. Still everybody gets a go with Tyshawn Sorey roaring in for an opening drum solo for in “The Kitchen” in this more accentuated Avante track with a some wonderful slower material to follow with Stomu Takeishi’s bass and Myra Melford’s piano being the main components in “Times Of Sleep And Fate”. Still my album favourite would the 2nd last composition “ The Virgin Of Guadalupe” as well as the album’s longest with Ron Miles’ solo cornet opening with Myra adding gradual piano and it is always a delight when you barely notice other band members coming in behind throughout this lovely composition. It is a jaunt to finish the album up for “Strawberry” which contains more wonderful interplay between this highly talented Quintet.

Already it has been five years since this album’s recording and a new album with Myra Melford’s Snowy Egret has just recently been released and if the music from this release is anything to go by I won’t even bother to have a pre listen of the new one as it won’t be required, I’ll just buy it.
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