About this Event
Earthwise welcomes pianist Myra Melford's Splash trio featuring Michael Formanek bass and Ches Smith drums and vibraphone. Opening the show is the duo of Tammy L. Hall piano and Leberta Lorál voice.
Splash is an adventurous new trio led by visionary pianist/composer Myra Melford, featuring bassist Michael Formanek and drummer/vibraphonist Ches Smith. The project is the latest installment of Melford’s ongoing body of work inspired by and engaging with the work of the American post-abstract expressionist painter Cy Twombly(1928-2011). The bold, sudden action implicit in the trio’s name reflects the energy and motion captured on Twombly’s canvases, a physicality that drives Melford’s exploratory music.
Throughout her career, Melford’s compositions have imbibed elements from other media – not only visual art but literature, poetry, and architecture. The connections are never literal or obvious, but the echoes and resonances are rich and profound. Her multi-hued dialogue with Twombly has evolved over nearly three decades, since she discovered the artist through his 1994 retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Previous installments of the project include two albums with her all-star quintet Fire and Water (with Mary Halvorson, Ingrid Laubrock, Tomeka Reid and Lesley Mok) and a set of music for the collective trio MZM, which she co-leads with Miya Masaoka and Zeena Parkins.
Melford doesn’t attempt to directly translate the Twombly’s work in sonic form; instead she approaches her own musical language via techniques and processes similar to those employed by the artist: using action words – “Splash” among them – to propel both compositions and improvisations, and discovering means to capture the impression of spontaneity in concrete forms. His paintings thus suggest an immediate moment or burst of activity while in reality being carefully composed, an elusive quality vibrantly embodied by the trio.
Formanek and Smith are both renowned improvisers, composers, and bandleaders, whose collaborators include Tim Berne, Marc Ribot, Mary Halvorson, Kris Davis, John Zorn and many others. Melford’s compositions for this stellar trio serve as both structure and instigation, compelling a fluid and captivating balance of design and invention.
Sample of buy the record on Bandcamp: https://intaktrec.bandcamp.com/album/myra-melford-splash
"Soprano Leberta Lorál displayed great virtuosity...her voice leapt through high passages with ease, sometimes loud enough to fill the church, but also sometimes so quiet that you found yourself on the edge of your seat in anticipation. It was a technically impressive, but also emotionally intense performance that brought many audience members to their feet when it was finished." Leberta appears with Tammy L. Hall who has headlined shows by Earthwise four previous times most recently in April, 2026 with Realtime Collective. The duo will be performing original, classical and contemporary/jazz music.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Mitchell Park Community Center, 3700 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, United States
USD 20.00
