Bay Area pianist Myra Melford and New York-based saxophonist Angela Morris perform original compositions and spontaneous improvisations. Ranging from melodic free jazz to energetic sonic explorations, they bring their unique chemistry to the West Coast for the first time this fall. After meeting in 2008 at the Banff Centre for the Arts, in Morris’ native Canada, they finally performed together just last spring, in Orlando, FL during another residency, this time at the Atlantic Center for the Arts.
Angela Morris & Myra Melford at the Maybeck
Saturday, October 7, 2017 at 3:00pm
This concert is $20 General Admission/$10 Students
Seating is limited. Get your required online reservation here.
If Brooklyn’s music circles draw a Venn diagram, saxophonist-composer Angela Morris thrives in the loop between avant-jazz and pop. Originally from Toronto, Canada and based in NYC, she has performed throughout North America and Europe. Her vocal group Rallidae released their new album, “Turned, and Was,” in November 2016 on the NYC-based label Gold Bolus Recordings; their debut “Paper Birds” was praised as “an exceptional debut by and exciting and innovative new band.” Morris is a member Motel and TMT Trio, two collaborative trios that have respectively released albums in 2017: "like you always do, I always did too" by Motel (Prom Night Records), and Star Ballad by TMT Trio. Morris composes and co-leads several groups, including a 17-piece big band – she is an alumna of the BMI Jazz Composer’s Workshop lead by Jim McNeely and studied composition with the Grammy-nominated jazz composer Darcy James Argue. In addition to her own projects, she performs with Helado Negro, Jason Ajemian’s Folk-Lords, Myra Melford, and Jessica Pavone. Pianist, composer, and Guggenheim fellow Myra Melford is a singular voice in piano improvisation. Known for her restless curiosity and diverse collaborations, Melford draws from such far-ranging interests as jazz, Chicago blues, experimental music, architecture, and Eastern philosophy. In 2013, Melford earned a Guggenheim Fellowship for Language of Dreams, a multisensory work featuring her Snowy Egret quintet. Snowy Egret released its debut recording in 2015, held a weeklong engagement at the Village Vanguard in 2016, and was named Best Mid-Size Ensemble of 2016 by the Jazz Journalists Association. Melford also performs solo concerts; co-leads Trio M (with Mark Dresser and Matt Wilson) and Dialogue (with Ben Goldberg); and plays in trios with Miya Masaoka/Zeena Parkins and Nicole Mitchell/Joelle Leandre. Recent honors include a 2012 Alpert Award in the Arts for Music and a 2013 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. Melford showcased her prolific artistry in a 12-show, 25-year career retrospective at The Stone (2015).