Myra Melford - Projects As a testament to Melford's expansive musical sensibilities, she currently leads or co-leads four groups, which have all recorded in the past two years. In each ensemble, Melford programs compositions for the strengths of her groups' players, exploring the collective range of her musicians' skills. In two of these groups, Melford updates the Bill Evans-style traditional piano trio with fresh sonic palettes. Crush, a trio with electric bassist Stomu Takeishi and drummer Kenny Wollesen, highlights the textures of the instruments on which the players double-up: harmonium, acoustic bass guitar, and sampler, respectively. Their first recording, Dance Beyond the Color (Arabesque) was released in 2000. Melford also revitalizes the trio format with Equal Interest, a collaborative project with AACM reedist Joseph Jarman and violinist Leroy Jenkins. Wide touring sharpened the group's interplay on the elastic original tunes all three members compose for Equal Interest, leading to an eponymous recording debut on OmniTone that Down Beat says "...defies categorization beyond the beauty and humanity that suffuse all of it."

Melford investigates her more episodic compositions within the chamber jazz setting of The Same River, Twice, her quintet with celloist Erik Friedlander, trumpeter Cuong Vu (who replaced original group member Dave Douglas in 1999), drummer Mike Sarin, and saxophonist Chris Speed. Their first self-titled recording (Gramavision/Rykodisc) was noted by jazz critics as one of the best discs of 1996. Of the quintet's second recording, Above Blue (Arabesque Records), Downbeat said it "argues that Melford has entered her prime as both a pianist and composer." Melford's fourth project is a collaborative duo with reedist Marty Ehrlich, a fellow native Midwesterner with a similar sense of cosmopolitan adventurousness. As the Boston Globe said of Ehrlich and Melford, "even with their music's open-ended nature, they present a richly inclusive program of strong melody and heartfelt moods." Yet Can Spring, their first recording, was released by Arabesque in February 2001.

Down Beat said it "argues that Melford has entered her prime as both a pianist and a composer." Melford's fourth project is a collaborative duo with reedist Marty Ehrlich, a fellow native Midwesterner with a similar sense of cosmopolitan adventurousness. As the Boston Globe said of Ehrlich and Melford, "...even with their music's open-ended nature, they present a richly inclusive program of strong melody and heartfelt moods." Yet Can Spring, their first recording, will be released by Arabesque in February 2001.