Jazz Articles about Larry Grenadier

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Joshua Redman: Compass

by Chris May
January 5, 2009

Like its predecessor Back East (Nonesuch, 2007), saxophonist Joshua Redman's Compass invites comparisons with Sonny Rollins' totemic acoustic trio outing Way Out West (Riverside, 1957), whose instrumentation it reflects and whose influence Redman has acknowledged.

Another Rollins album which springs to mind, though more for its title than its structure, is Saxophone Colossus (Riverside, 1956); for with Compass, Redman, like Rollins 53 years earlier, has produced the most singular album of his career so far. Redman's previous acoustic ...

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Brad Mehldau Trio: Live

by Andrew Velez
June 7, 2008

Returning to New York's Village Vanguard for another live recording, pianist Brad Mehldau's trio has Larry Grenadier (bass) returning and Jeff Ballard (drums) taking over for Jorge Rossy. Music seems to just pour out of Mehldau, as is buoyantly evident here. And often, as with Chico Buarque's “O Que Sera" or Chris Cornell's “Black Hole Sun," it flows at a dizzying pace. Much of this set's made up of Mehldau's own compositions such as “B-Flat Waltz"; the ...

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Brad Mehldau Trio: Live

by John Kelman
March 20, 2008

It's been three years since Jeff Ballard replaced original drummer Jorge Rossy in pianist Brad Mehldau's trio with bassist Larry Grenadier. While the trio has been busy on its own and with guitar icon Pat Metheny in support of Metheny Mehldau (Nonesuch, 2006) and Quartet (Nonesuch, 2007), it's also been three years since Day is Done (Nonesuch, 2005)-- its only release to date. Rossy's departure left a significant gap to fill, but Ballard's greater energy and dynamism has ushered Mehldau's ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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M.T.B.: MTB - Consenting Adults

by C. Andrew Hovan
June 1, 2000

One has to wonder why it took over five years for this 1994 recording to make its debut. Certainly the quality is up to Criss Cross standards and the spirit of the session is unquestionably robust. Still, now that Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner, and Peter Bernstein (the first letters of their last names gives us M.T.B.) have become more established artists, this peek at an earlier effort is sure to initiate some lively discussion. In the cases of Turner and ...