Pianist and composer Myra Melford has been writing for and performing with her Snowy Egret quintet for five years now. The group features Wesleyan prof Tyshawn Sorey on drums, Stomu Takeishi on bass, Ron Miles on trumpet and Liberty Ellman on guitar. As a composer, Melford has found inspiration in some interesting places: the writings of leftist Latin American literary giant Eduardo Galeano, or of Albert Camus, or from visual art.
The quintet makes lovely ruminative music. It’s complicated, but rarely showy. There are simmering grooves and there are misty atmospherics. At times, though there’s no saxophone, the work of the classic mid-’60s Miles Davis quintet can come to mind. Melford can also conjure the whirlwind styles of players like Don Pullen and Cecil Taylor.
Myra Melford’s Snowy Egret performs at Firehouse 12, 45 Crown St., New Haven, on Friday, Oct. 13. They will play two sets: at 8:30 p.m. ($20) and 10 p.m. ($15). 203-785-0468 or firehouse12.com
