“Around the same time I happened to play one day with Steve Melling, an excellent pianist who I had heard many times with Clark Tracey’s group. I hadn’t realized before that Steve, as well as being an excellent musician, was also a great modal player, in the McCoy Tyner mould. I wanted to work with him more and had to make a difficult decision regarding my quartet… Gradually I built a new group around me with Steve Melling and Steve Keogh as the nucleus. This was the band, with Alec Dankworth on bass that went into the studio to record the next album and apart from an occasional change of bass player; it became my regular quartet until today.

With Steve on piano I was able to start developing my modal playing. He could lay down powerful, McCoy-like accompaniment and so I began to ‘hear’ differently and slowly brought more modal and pentatonic elements into my solos. I liked the freedom that music can give you, so different from constantly running through tightly defined chord sequences. Before, I had found stretching out on one chord hard but, with the right backing, you are free to explore many harmonic possibilities over the basic tonality. I hoped that, by sticking to Alto, any Coltrane influence would simply colour my own style and give me an original voice of my own.”

PETER KING

"When singing with a pianist as accomplished as Steve Melling it allows me
to broaden my scope as a singer. He is such a fine player."
GEORGIE FAME

"…the night's modest hero was pianist Steve Melling..." MORE >
JOHN FORDHAM, The Guardian

"Melling is one of the most comprehensively gifted of pianists, with a great technique and an abundance of ideas. He is also a great composer."
IAN CARR, JAZZ The Rough Guide Vol 2

"I wanted to work with him more..." MORE >
PETER KING

"...incredible and very exciting..." MORE >
MARTIN DREW

"The alternatively tumultuous and tender pianist Steve Melling."
CHRIS PARKER, Jazz At Ronnie Scott’s magazine

"Steve Melling comes across as the most eloquent soloist."
TONY AUGARDE, The Musician magazine