Jazz, by nature, is interactive. It can be more than a little daunting for players to perform and record solo—they can only look in the mirror and go deeper for inspiration. Pianist Myra Melford answers that challenge on Life Carries Me This Way, her solo debut. She actually cheats a little bit, finding inspiration from several paintings by the now-passed visual artist Don Reich, who'd picked out several works for her. Inspired by a Cubist-style painting of the same name (each piece is named after the painting that inspired it), “Park Mechanics” is an angular sonic landscape, while the track “Japanese Music” is more elliptical than the interlocking shapes on the canvas. Another highlight is “Piano Music,” which finds Melford often playing at a dazzling pace to capture the dense shapes and bright colors that nearly overwhelm the eye. Many avant-garde jazz pianists seem to deconstruct with a detached or clinical ear, yet there's a warm earthiness to these musical interpretations that makes this album quite approachable.