Jazz Articles about Brad Mehldau

Brad Mehldau: Anything Goes

by Rich Friedman
March 25, 2004

With Anything Goes a more mature, reflective Brad Mehldau is back where he started almost seven years ago with his trio soulmates, Jorge Rossy (drums) and Larry Grenadier (bass). On their sixth trio disc, there aren’t any original tunes, but Mehldau is at his best expanding old favorites such as “Nearness of You,” “Anything Goes” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” He’s improved upon his old tricks of extracting harmony, gently changing tempo, and playing loose with ...

Brad Mehldau Trio: Anything Goes

by John Kelman
March 18, 2004

Two years after Largo , pianist Brad Mehldau returns to more familiar territory with Anything Goes , his first studio trio recording in four years. Familiar it may be--as he reconvenes his empathetic relationship with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy--but safe it is not.

On a programme surprisingly devoid of original material, Mehldau still manages to take a number of worn chestnuts and reinvigorate them by liberally reworking their structures. “Get Happy" is played in 7/4, and while ...

Brad Mehldau's Opening, Middle and Endgame

by Mike Brannon
October 7, 2003

Regardless of how long we've lived, some remain unaffected by self awareness, some with just enough to feel what they wish they couldn't and others find themselves immersed in both a keen awareness of their place and plight as well as a potential, bittersweet, transcendent ecstasy, just out of reach---Sehnsucht. And a very few have all of this and the fearlessness and artistry to express the depth, darkness and density armed with only a lyrical, polyrhythmic/polytonal armor between them and ...

Brad Mehldau: Largo

by Joe Lazar
August 1, 2002

Brad Mehldau has had quite a load on his shoulders since he burst on the scene in 1994. He is the latest pianist--and perhaps the most fit--to wear the title “next Bill Evans." And in light of Mehldau's work with rhythm section Jorge Rossi and Larry Grenadier on the acclaimed Art of the Trio series, the comparison could be argued as valid.

But, all things must change, and on his latest studio album Largo, Mehldau abandons the trio format that ...

Brad Mehldau: Progression: Art of the Trio, Volume 5

by David Adler
August 1, 2001

Brad Mehldau interrupted his ongoing Art of the Trio series with last year's anomalous Places. Now the series resumes with Progression, a live double-disc package containing 136 minutes of music. Like Mehldau's previous live records, this one features a great deal of stretching out. Loosely speaking, disc one focuses on standards, including up-tempo versions of “The More I See You" and “Alone Together." The latter, played in seven (with a stunning solo piano intro), segues directly into a brief “It ...

The Brad Mehldau Trio: Progression - Art Of The Trio, Volume 5

by Glenn Astarita
August 1, 2001

Pianist Brad Mehldau’s self proclaimed “Art of the Trio” decree continues with this 2-CD set, recorded live at New York City’s infamous “Village Vanguard” establishment featuring his longtime associates, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, as the band continues its temperate yet deterministic assault on jazz piano trio fare.

The musicians launch the proceedings with the climactic yet fiercely swinging “The More I See You.” Here, Mehldau pursues a series of subtle complexities and deftly rendered grooves, sparked by ...

Brad Mehldau: Places

by David Adler
October 1, 2000

Aside from being his most directly personal statement to date, Places is also Brad Mehldau's second all-original album, the first being 1999's solo piano tour de force, Elegaic Cycle. The young piano sensation splits the program evenly between solo piano explorations and trio pieces with his regular cohorts, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy. Each piece is named for a particular place (hence the title), which Mehldau attempts to represent in musical terms. In short, Places is a concept ...