Photo: Cory Warner

Starting tonight, pianist Myra Melford, bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Matt Wilson will celebrate this week’s official release of The Guest House (Enja/Yellowbird), their second recording as Trio M, with a series of California performances.

This three-city tour includes concerts at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla (tonight), the Jazz Bakery Series at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles (tomorrow night) and Yoshi’s in San Francisco (next Tuesday).

The group will also support the record at the Outpost Performance Space in Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 29th and on an East Coast tour in April.

The New York Times‘ Nate Chinen writes, “The Guest House, the group’s excellent second album, doesn’t feel tethered to any era or dialect. With compositions by all three members, it’s a crisp, engaging ride, variously roiling or reflective, with high-wire interplay at almost every turn.”

DownBeat‘s John Corbett adds, “They all contribute music, and they all equally steer the ship, taking turns supporting, jumping out front and working together. Trio M is as much a piano trio as Jason Moran’s Bandwagon. Which means that they can step into that storied history if they want to, but for the most part they are busy making jazz that extends the creative music lineage.”

Learn more about Trio M at http://myramarkmatt.tumblr.com

On Saturday, February 25th at 9:00 and 10:30 p.m., pianist/composer Myra Melford will debut her new ensemble, Snowy Egret, at The Jazz Gallery in New York. The interdisciplinary sextet features musicians Ron Miles (trumpet), Liberty Ellman (guitar), Stomu Takeishi (electric bass) and Tyshawn Sorey (drums) as well as dancer Oguri.

Snowy Egret is the evolution of one of her earlier ensembles, Happy Whistlings, which she created in 2008 to perform a book of original music inspired by Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano’s Memory of Fire Trilogy. In this latest incarnation, with all new personnel, the original pieces are further developed, rearranged and augmented with more recent compositions.

“Myra Melford lately seems to have entered a phase where she can do no wrong,” writes esteemed jazz journalist Francis Davis in his introduction to this year’s Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll. Recent media coverage has called her “one of the most exciting musicians working in any genre” (Ehren Gresehover, At Length), “an insightful and far-reaching pianist-composer” (Nate Chinen, New York Times) and “a visionary bandleader” (Andrew Gilbert, Berkeleyside), noting her “ever-growing track record of arresting music” (Mike Shanley, JazzTimes).

In addition to her own projects, including the acoustic sextet Be Bread heard on her latest recording, The Whole Tree Gone (Firehouse 12 Records), she currently co-leads a duo with clarinetist Ben Goldberg and the all-star collective Trio M, which releases its second recording, The Guest House (Enja/Yellowbird), in February. She also serves on the faculty of the University of California Berkeley, where she develops and teaches courses about contemporary improvised music.

Learn more about Myra Melford at http://myramelford.com

On Friday, February 10th at 7:30 p.m., pianist/composer Myra Melford will perform at the Northampton Center for the Arts in Northampton, Massachusetts as part of the three-week series, A World Of Piano, curated by WMUA 91.1 FM’s Glenn Siegel.

Ms. Melford, who will be fresh off a West Coast CD release tour with the all-star collective Trio M earlier that week, is planning to debut a collection of new solo piano pieces based on the drawings of the celebrated Sacramento-based artist Don Reich (1931-2010) as part of a set that will also include other original music and pieces by Ornette Coleman and Andrew Hill.

“Myra Melford lately seems to have entered a phase where she can do no wrong,” writes esteemed jazz journalist Francis Davis in his introduction to this year’s Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll. Recent media coverage has described her as “one of the most exciting musicians working in any genre” (Ehren Gresehover, At Length), “a very accomplished composer” (Jez Nelson, BBC 3′s Jazz on 3), “a visionary bandleader” (Andrew Gilbert, Berkeleyside) and “a crafty original whose playing is filled with muscle, brains and poetic spark” (Time Out New York).

“Like her mentor, Henry Threadgill,” adds Point of Departure‘s Troy Collins, “Melford has a talent for effortlessly interweaving seemingly incongruous elements into cohesive multi-layered compositions, yielding a singular aesthetic that blurs the line between the written and improvised. As lyrical, adventurous and conceptually expansive as the work of contemporaries like Tim Berne, Dave Douglas and Marty Ehrlich, Melford’s compositions are among the most compelling of her generation.”

When not performing as a solo pianist or leading her own groups Be Bread and Snowy Egret, she currently co-leads a variety of ensembles, including Trio M with bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Matt Wilson and a duo with clarinetist Ben Goldberg. Since 2004, she has also served on the faculty of the University of California Berkeley, where she develops and teaches courses about contemporary improvised music. Learn more at http://myramelford.com

After a quick detour to New York for APAP|NYC and Winter Jazzfest last week, we’re now officially up and running with our newly expanded client roster for 2012. It is our great pleasure to be serving as the exclusive media contact for these nine musicians and two labels throughout our 10th anniversary year.

Please click on the following links to visit each client’s page on our site for additional information.

AUM Fidelity
Darcy James Argue
Eric Hofbauer
Fay Victor
James Falzone
Jason Stein
Jon Irabagon
Josh Sinton
Mary Halvorson
Myra Melford
Playscape Recordings

For those not familiar with our roster system, this is the third consecutive year we’ll be working with a small group of clients to help them promote all of their performing and recording activities on a per-year basis. This is intended to be a more organic alternative to the traditional one-off system in which individual events or recordings are promoted outside the larger context of one’s overall career. In cases where a venue or label already has a publicity infrastructure in place, we will augment that promotion as appropriate by collaborating with those existing contacts. In short, if at any point you have any questions or requests related to the 11 clients listed above, please direct them to us and we’ll be happy to help.

In the meantime, thank you for your continued support of independent creative improvised music and we look forward to being in touch with you about all the exciting projects our clients are a part of in 2012.

Photo: Cory Warner

This February, pianist Myra Melford, bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Matt Wilson will celebrate the release of The Guest House (Enja/Yellowbird), their second recording as Trio M, with California performances at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla (2/2), the Jazz Bakery Series at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles (2/3) and Yoshi’s in San Francisco (2/6).

The record, which officially hits the streets earlier that week, features compositions by all three musicians, including pieces inspired by such diverse muses as the poetry of Rumi and Al-Jawahiri, the prose of Yvonne Vera, the comedy of Don Knotts and the music of Albert Ayler. Also included are selections written for the band’s 2010 collaboration with chef Paul Canales and a benefit concert for The Relay For Life, which celebrates lives affected by cancer.

“This is not your average piano-trio by a long shot,” declares the San Diego Reader‘s Robert Bush in his review of The Guest House. “Together, the trio manages to nail the traditional expectations while shattering the boundaries of convention. Beginning with the Melford-penned title track, there is an instant surge of joy in this music. The Guest House is terrific stuff, and the production-values are top notch all the way, from the crystalline sound to the superior artwork and graphics.”

Founded in early 2006, Trio M brings together three of the most respected veteran musicians in jazz and improvised music. The New York City Jazz Record‘s Laurence Donohue-Greene writes, “The exploratory Trio M…continues to turn out one mesmerizing set after another, revealing their deep empathy while equally balancing composition with improvisation. Each member is readily equipped to do anything at any given moment, from soloing to laying out to changing tempo, the three moving as one, always.”

Critics have called the group “always exploratory and collaborative” (Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen), “one of those rare units that can be both wildly creative and surprisingly user-friendly” (Alexander Varty, Georgia Straight) and “not only one of the most virtuosic playing today, but one of the most consistently engrossing” (Derk Richardson, The Absolute Sound). “Melford, Dresser and Wilson know no bounds on their instruments and don’t give a hang about boundaries,” adds JazzTimes reviewer Carlo Wolff, “theirs is improvisation so empathetic, they seem of one mind.”

Learn more about Trio M at http://myramarkmatt.tumblr.com

The results of Cadence‘s 2010 Record Poll are included in the Jan/Feb/Mar issue now reaching subscribers.

We’re proud to report the following client releases were recognized by the voters in the New Issues category (new releases reviewed in the magazine in 2010).

Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records)
Bill Dixon, Tapestries for Small Orchestra (Firehouse 12 Records)
John Hébert, Byzantine Monkey (Firehouse 12 Records)
KLANG, Tea Music (Allos Documents)
Peter Madsen Trio, The Litchfield Suite (Playscape Recordings)
Myra Melford’s Be Bread, The Whole Tree Gone (Firehouse 12 Records)
Joe Morris Quartet, Today On Earth (AUM Fidelity)
Michael Musillami Trio, Old Tea (Playscape Recordings)
The Fully Celebrated, Drunk On The Blood Of The Holy Ones (AUM Fidelity)
Fay Victor Ensemble, The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue Music)

The January/February issue of JazzTimes features two reviews of our clients’ recent releases, the Mary Halvorson Quintet’s Saturn Sings (Firehouse 12 Records) and I Plan To Stay A Believer (AUM Fidelity), the two-disc live set from William Parker’s Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield.

Of the former, Bill Milkowski writes, “Brooklyn-based guitarist Mary Halvorson is capable of unleashing the kind of subversive broken-glass fury of Sonny Sharrock in full-out skronk mode, or Jimi Hendrix at Monterey. And yet her sonic outbursts are tempered by compositions that are highly intelligent and harmonically sophisticated, full of nuance, beauty and the sound of surprise…the harmonies and interwoven lines that she constructs for trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson and alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon, both potent soloists, add layers of depth to this startlingly original and thoughtful music. This is easily one of the most provocative and fascinating releases of 2010.”

Steve Greenlee calls the latter “a superb example of how a pop songbook can be transformed into meaningful jazz. This is a fierce and awesome display of musical prowess. This is one of Parker’s finest projects, and it’s also among the broadest, deepest, richest listens of 2010.”

This same issue also features the results of the 2010 Critics’ Poll, which finds Saturn Sings and its fellow Firehouse 12 Records release, The Whole Tree Gone from Myra Melford’s Be Bread, finishing 16th and 17th respectively in the Top 50.

The results of the prestigious Village Voice Jazz Critics’ Poll were posted last night and we’re incredibly proud to report our clients are well represented, with 16 releases we promoted this year ending up on at least one voter’s ballot.

Of course, the focus is on the Top 50, and three of our clients’ records made that cut, with the Mary Halvorson Quintet’s Saturn Sings (Firehouse 12 Records) coming in at an amazing #3.

In his summation of the results, poll organizer Francis Davis wrote, “it’s the hurtling intelligence of Halvorson’s writing on the tracks with horns that marks her transition from the cutting edge’s favorite sidewoman to one of today’s most formidable bandleaders.”

Myra Melford’s The Whole Tree Gone, also on Firehouse 12 Records, followed at #14, and William Parker’s I Plan To Stay A Believer: The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield (AUM Fidelity) finished at #41.

The ExPosed Blues Duo’s BARE (Greene Avenue Music) came in 10th in the Vocal category.

Voters also included the following releases on their individual lists of the Top 10 New Releases of the Year:

James Falzone’s Allos Musica, Lamentations (Allos Documents)
Garrison Fewell, Sound Particle 47 (Creative Nation Music)
Tomas Fujiwara & Taylor Ho Bynum, Stepwise (NotTwo)
Eric Hofbauer, American Fear (Creative Nation Music)
Little Women, Throat (AUM Fidelity)
Michael Musillami Trio, Old Tea (Playscape Recordings)
Mario Pavone Orange Double Tenor, Arc Suite T/Pi T/Po (Playscape Recordings)
Mike Pride’s From Bacteria To Boys, Betweenwhile (AUM Fidelity)
Vox Arcana, Aerial Age (Allos Documents)
David S. Ware, Onecept (AUM Fidelity)
David S. Ware, Saturnian (AUM Fidelity)
Eri Yamamoto Trio, In Each Day, Something Good (AUM Fidelity)

Congratulations to all the musicians and labels recognized in this year’s poll and thanks again to all the critics who have supported our clients and their music in 2010.