Originally published in
the NYC Jazz Record NY@Night column, Nov 2018
TIGER
TRIO
Oct. 8, 2018, Teatro Latea, Clemente Soto Velez Center, NYC
Performance
review by John Pietaro
Tiger Trio, Teatro Latea, November 8, 2018 (photo by John Pietaro)
In this
era of #MeToo and feminist fight-back, the obvious statement made by the
banding of Myra Melford, piano, Nicole Mitchell, flutes, and Joelle Leandre,
bass, may be one of gender alone. In this period of reactionary divisiveness, new
music and jazz remain as male-dominated as ever, but these powerful soloists
unified in the creation of something greater than the sum of themselves, cast a
timeless lesson in equity, strength and art. Veterans all of the most expansive
contemporary music, Melford, Leandre and Mitchell took the stage at Teatro
Latea (10/8) without plans or outlines of what was to come, guided only by the
highest level of performance practice and deepest, most communicative listening.
Refreshingly, there wasn’t any
hogging of the spotlight or rushing toward a climax, but the Trio evoked enough
energy, expression and force to justify the title and embark on jaw-dropping
musical forays. Melford appeared at the top of her game this night. Perhaps hindered
by the limitations of an upright piano, her technical prowess nonetheless
shaped a spinning tapestry of sound. Mitchell’s flutes alternately draped
gorgeous melodies over and cut searing lines into the atmosphere. And Leandre’s
tireless pizzicato patterns, arco passages, vocalizations and humor brought it
together. The Tiger Trio may be the counter to the ignorance, impatience and greed
the nation’s daily fed. “We’re totally tuned in to each other”, Melford noted
after the concert. But it was Mitchell’s comment that best describes what
propels this vital music: “It’s a different kind of listening”.
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