Intriguingly labelled "A powerfully elastic ensemble" by the New York Times, Be Bread is a forward-thinking sextet led by the fearless composer Myra Melford (piano/harmonium). Created to play music based on Myra's studies in India, the band delves into meters and tonalities well outside the realm of western music, resulting in an otherworldly sound that's wholly uncategorizable.

Showcasing selections from Myra's recent CD, The Whole Tree Gone, Cuong Vu (trumpet), Ben Goldberg (clarinet), and Brandon Ross (guitar) comprise a melodic frontline armed with cosmopolitan chops that alternately draw on world music, jazz, and the avant-garde. Stomu Takeishi (bass guitar) and Matt Wilson (drums) drive the undercurrent beneath Myra's colorful, spiritually inspired improvisations in this work commissioned by Chamber Music America's New Works Presentation.

A musical adventurer, Myra recasts the blues and boogie-woogie of her native Chicago, folds in elements of the music of Eastern Europe and India, and blends them with the rangy, percussive avant-garde approach she cultivated in studies with Don Pullen and Henry Threadgill. She currently divides her time between teaching, composition, and performance; since 2004, she has been on the music faculty of the University of California, Berkeley.

Visit Myra's website

Listen to a track from Myra Melford:

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