Myra Melford

Jazz pianist and composer Myra Melford was born in Evanston, Illinois on January 5, 1957. She began playing piano at a young age and began exploring styles like boogie-woogie but gravitated towards classical music after attending a Northwestern University extension program while in junior high school. Inspired by Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman, she switched her major from environmental science to music while attending Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. In 1980, she attended Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, studying under Art Lande and Gary Peacock. Moving to New York City in 1984, she continued her studies under Henry Threadgill, Jaki Byard and Don Pullen. She formed a trio with Lindsey Horner (bass) and Reggie Nicholson (drums), recording three albums with them: Jump (1990), Now & Now (1991), and Alive in the House of Saints (1993). She began experimenting with larger groups, adding horns and reeds to her trio, creating a quintet called the Myra Melford Extended Ensemble and released the album Even the Sounds Shine (1995). She also formed a different quintet called the Same River, Twice, who released their self-titled album in 1996 followed by Above Blue (1999). During the course of her career, Myra Melford explored many aspects of jazz including avant-garde jazz. She collaborated with many different artists throughout her career including Hans Bennink, Marty Ehrlich, Ben Goldberg, Tanya Kalmanovitch and others. Her catalog includes titles such as Spark! (2007), Life Carries Me This Way (2013), Snowy Egret (2015), Dialogue (2016), and 12 from 25 (2018).

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