Myra Melford's Splash Trio Plays VanJazz on Oct. 25
On Sunday, October 25, 2026, Myra Melford brings Splash to the Alliance Française Theatre, a trio of three musicians and four instruments, because drummer Ches Smith has also been handed the vibraphone. It's Melford's first Vancouver appearance in seven years and the band's local debut, in a VanJazz '26 show presented by Infidels Jazz, with Melford on piano and composing, which leaves bassist Michael Formanek as the only person on stage with a single job.
Splash makes its Vancouver debut
Count how the stage makes sound and Splash is mostly percussion: a piano works by hammers striking strings, Smith strikes drums and then strikes the vibraphone's bars, and Formanek's bass is the one instrument that gets plucked or bowed instead of hit. The festival calls it an adventurous new trio, and nobody up there is more adventurous than the bass, outnumbered three to one.
Seven years after her last Vancouver appearance, Melford returns leading a trio the city has never seen together, which makes Sunday a reunion at the piano bench and a debut everywhere else on stage.
Tickets, start time and the festival's final day
The show runs from 8 pm to 10 pm at the Alliance Française Theatre, 6161 Cambie Street. Tickets are $40, which across four instruments works out to $10 each, with Smith quietly delivering $20 of it. It's listed as all ages, so the kid who drums on the kitchen table can see where that habit leads: a vibraphone. Availability isn't stated, so check the VanJazz event page before promising that kid anything.
VanJazz '26 runs October 14 to 25, which puts Splash on day twelve of twelve and makes it the deadline for anyone who has spent the festival saving themselves for something good.
A Sunday night for two jazz listeners
Bring someone happy to argue on the walk home about whether a piano counts as percussion; the band supplies two hours of evidence.
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