the hum / By Bob Doran

Always Going Somewhere

Redwood Jazz Alliance, NWOBHM, Kirtan and Reggae biz

(Jan. 24, 2008)  Unless you’re up to date on the world of contemporary jazz, the names Myra Melford and Marty Ehrilch may not mean much to you. New Yorker magazine included the duo’s 2007 release, Spark!, on a short list of the best of the year. Pianist Melford has also earned acclaim for her work with Trio M, where she works with bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Matt Wilson. Saturday, Jan. 26, the always forward thinking Redwood Jazz Alliance brings both the duo and the trio to Arcata for a show at Fulkerson Recital Hall that will also include a combination of the two, an unnamed quartet with all four M’s.

Melford called from her Berkeley home to talk about the show, about jazz in general, and the “progressive jazz” she plays. I asked what she thought about the New Yorker review where the music she made with clarinet/saxophone player Ehrilch was described as “thorny.”

Myra Melford. Photo by Jean-Francois Laberine

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“I think of it as quite melodic actually,” she said with just a hint of defensiveness. “We use a lot of melodies and harmonic chord progressions and different kinds of grooves. It’s not like traditional straight-ahead jazz, by any means. But it’s using song form a lot. We base our improvisations off of songs that Marty and I each write. And since we have both been influenced by a lot of the more experimental music of the ‘60s and beyond, our improvisational vocabulary includes that kind of thing the New Yorker refers to as ‘thorny,’ those kinds of textures or whatever. But I would say it’s just that there’s a lot of exuberance in the music, a lot of energy. That’s how I think about it.”

As Melford noted, the starting point for a new kind of jazz was innovative ‘60s improvisers like Henry Threadgill, the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. I wondered, where is jazz going now? “It’s always going somewhere,” she answered. “It’s hard to say where. For me? Well, I don’t know. I think I’m on this path where I’m always looking for new sounds — that may mean new instruments or new combinations of instruments, new approaches or strategies for improvisation.”

(For more of the conversation with Melford check the North Coast Journal Blogthing at ncjournal.wordpress.com.)

Thursday at Humboldt Brews, catch Del Mar, featuring drummer Bud Gaugh of Sublime fame. Note: The seaside name Del Mar reflects the band’s oceanic Dick Dale-style surf sound, not their home base. They’re touring out of Reno, this time out on the road with Sacto-based power rock trio SexRat.

Add this to the you-learn-something-new-every-day file. I was at a loss translating the acronym in the p.r. (press release) from HFRA (Humboldt Free Radio Alliance) for a Friday night Alibi show describing Trigger Renegade‘s music as “NWOBHM-inspired rock.” Wikipedia informs me that NWOBHM stands for New Wave of British Heavy Metal, a sound that emerged in the late ‘70s in the U.K. “as a reaction in part to the decline of early heavy metal bands such as Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. The NWOBHM toned down the blues influences of earlier acts, upped the tempo, and adopted a tougher sound, taking a more hardcore approach.” The Alibi show also includes The Zygoats playing some sort of post-NWOBHM music.

If you’ve been to The Works lately you might have seen the petition demanding a reunion of The Hitch, a beloved local metal quartet who have been on a long hiatus. Those who can’t wait may want to hit the show at the Alibi Saturday with Machete and Side Iron since each band includes a former Hitch member.

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