Myra Melford & Allison Miller Co-Lead New Band, Lux Quartet, With Dayna Stephens & Scott Colley

Lux Quartet, co-led by pianist Myra Melford and drummer Allison Miller, is proud to present its eponymous debut: a glowing musical encounter with Dayna Stephens (saxophones) and Scott Colley (bass).

The program features original compositions by all four band members, exploring philosophical and spiritual themes through the language of jazz. The name Lux Quartet was inspired by the role of light in the diversity of life on Earth, from the vitality of the sun’s rays to the bioluminescence of creatures in the deepest oceans—a suggestive reference to the heights and depths the band seeks to explore. The sound resulting from this combination of players is, according to Melford, “like throwing a spark at tinder—everything immediately bursts into flames.”

Melford and Miller have a rich history as collaborators, notably in Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, which has featured Melford’s pianistic brilliance on four albums to date. Their respective 2023 efforts—Melford’s Cy Twombly–inspired Hear the Light Singing and Miller’s ambitious multimedia work Rivers in Our Veins—appeared on many year-end critic’s lists. The two are thrilled to welcome Dayna Stephens, a formidable voice on all the saxophones, who worked with Miller and pianist Carmen Staaf on their co-led 2018 release Science Fair. The mysterious “23 Januarys,” Stephens’ first contribution to the Lux Quartet book, is derived from one of Messiaen’s modes of limited transposition, posing very particular challenges for improvisation and interplay.

Scott Colley, four-time Grammy nominee, first-call sideman and noted leader in his own right, recorded “Tomorrowland” on his 2010 release Empire (featuring Bill Frisell) and returns to it here, transforming it to close out the album in a dark and contemplative rubato space. “Scott has played with everyone and he really knows no boundaries,” Miller says. “His ears are huge, and I feel the same way with Dayna and Myra. That’s a big element of why this band worked so well from the start. We were able to listen and push the music in different directions night to night.”

The leadoff track, Melford’s “Intricate Drift,” was inspired by the late Andrew Hill, with whom Colley used to work extensively. “Dry Print on Cardboard” is a Twombly-related piece that first appeared on Melford’s 2018 Snowy Egret release The Other Side of Air; this version, with Stephens on tenor, evolves through a sequence of improvised duos and solo passages, united by an energetic main unison theme. And “The Wayward Line” offers tremendous interpretive freedom to the group as a whole: Though the piece has no set tempo, Melford explains, “Often we’ll go into some kind of groove. But I never know exactly how Allison’s going to approach it, and I love that.”

The first of Miller’s tunes is “Congratulations and Condolences,” an ode to parenting that Boom Tic Boom recorded on Glitter Wolf. Lux renders it with a more swing-oriented acoustic jazz sensibility while highlighting Stephens on soprano. “Speak Eddie” is Miller’s homage to the late drummer and consummate sideman Eddie Marshall, inspired by a signature five-note lick that Marshall used to play. “Deeply Us” is straightforwardly a love song, freshly contrasting in its spaciousness and lyrical simplicity. The blend of sonic elements—Stephens’ breath through the tenor, Miller’s brushes and then cymbals, Melford’s legato piano musings, Colley’s poetic free verse on the bass—is uncannily seamless and expressive, the sign of a band in full creative accord.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Myra Melford has been hailed by The New Yorker as “a stalwart of the new-jazz movement” and by Disaster Amnesiac as “one of the great post-Taylor players.” She is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Herb Alpert Award and Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. Her quintet, Fire and Water, with Ingrid Laubrock, Mary Halvorson, Tomeka Reid and Lesley Mok, has released two critically acclaimed recordings in 2022 and 2023. Her new trio, Splash, with Michael Formanek and Ches Smith, will record in 2024 after performing at the Cy Twombly Foundation Gallery in Rome in 2024. She also co-leads Tiger Trio (with Nicole Mitchell and Joëlle Léandre) and Trio M (with Mark Dresser and Matt Wilson), and has received major acclaim with her ensembles Snowy Egret and Be Bread.

Allison Miller has played on countless recordings in jazz and other genres, working with artists such as   Marty Ehrlich, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Jenny Scheinman and Ben Allison as well as singer-songwriters Ani DiFranco, Natalie Merchant, Toshi Reagon and Brandi Carlile. She is also a member of the all-star quintet  ARTEMIS, recording for Blue Note Records alongside Renee Rosnes, Ingrid Jensen, Nicole Glover and Noriko Ueda. Miller is a sought-after teacher and an activist committed to increasing the visibility of women in the jazz world.

Scott Colley has performed on over 200 recordings, gaining worldwide renown for his role in groups led by headliners John Scofield, Herbie Hancock, Chris Potter, Wolfgang Muthspiel and many more. He has also been a vital part of such projects as Still Dreaming with Joshua Redman, Ron Miles and Brian Blade; Steel House with Blade and Edward Simon; and the P E R S P E C T I V E trio with Blade and Danish saxophonist Benjamin Koppel.

Dayna Stephens has worked with some of the most important musicians of older and newer generations including Kenny Barron, Al Foster, Eric Harland, Linda May Han Oh, Ambrose Akinmusire and Gerald Clayton. He has amassed an impressive catalog as a leader, including the 2020 release Right Now! The Dayna Stephens Quartet Live at the Village Vanguard. Earlier releases feature the musical gifts of Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, Ethan Iverson, Gretchen Parlato and Julian Lage, among others. Pluto Juice, Stephens’ EWI-infused fusion project with drummer Anthony Fung, debuted in 2021.

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