Myra Melford is an American avant-garde pianist, composer, educator, and improvisor. Her music is unique, exciting, and brave, evolving from an approach to the piano that is percussive, athletic, and uber-dynamic, and compositions that are exploratory, poetic, visual, and thought-provoking.
Melford is an interdisciplinary artist of the highest order. Awarded the Alpert Award in the Arts for Music in 2012, plus the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award in 2013, she has released over 30 albums in various configurations (solo, duo, trio, quartet, quintet), and has collaborated with some of the greatest talents in contemporary music. Her most recent release is entitled Splash (with bassist Michael Formanek and drummer/vibraphonist Ches Smith), and is inspired by the work of the post-abstract expressionist painter Cy Twombly.
This interview was recorded in June, 2025 in Hamilton, ON, during the Something Else Festival. Thank you to Festival Director Cem Zafir (Our guest for Episode 60), plus Donna Akrey and the rest of the staff and volunteers.
More about Myra Melford at myramelford.com
Music in this episode:
Myra Melford - “Park Mechanics”, live at the Something Else! Festival (June, 2025) (Find that song on Melford’s solo album Life Carries Me This Way, 2013)
"Frank Lloyd Wright Goes West to Rest" - Myra Melford Trio (Jump, 1990)
"Chalk" - Myra Melford (Splash, 2025)
"Ekoneni" - Myra Melford and Trio M (The Guest House, 2012)
"Red Beach" - Myra Melford Solo Piano (Life Carries Me This Way, 2013)
MUSIC BUDDY IS:
Jane Gowan (host, producer, editor) ; Tim Vesely (co-producer)
The show's theme song, "Human Stuff," is written by Jane Gowan and Tim Vesely, and performed by Jane and Tim, with additional vocals by Steve Wright and Connie Kostiuk
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