When Brad Mehldau released Largo in 2002, I remember thinking it was high-time the era's greatest jazz pianist ventured beyond his comfy acoustic trio. Since signing a deal with the now-defunct Warner Jazz at the tender age of 24, Mehldau had released six piano trio records with the same personnel (Larry Grenadier on bass, Jorge Rossy on drums) and one rambling and occasionally brilliant solo date, Elegaic Cycles. Largo didn't sound like anything Mehldau had done before—it was poppy, heavily produced, and played up Jon Brion's arranging chops at the expense of Mehldau's instrumental virtuosity—and it sounds like nothing Mehldau has done since.
(via Nate Chinen, Nextbop, and Nonesuch)
I have friends, like the Argentine producer Fer Isella, who consider Largo Mehldau's best album. I do not. Viewed nearly eight years after its release, it seems like a necessary experiment that helped Mehldau grow as a composer and improviser, but it's a frustratingly hodge-podge album. That's why I'm anticipating Mehldau's upcoming release, Highway Rider (March 16), with guarded enthusiasm. Highway Rider reunites Mehldau and Brion in a heavily-produced orchestral affair, although this time around there are more promising signs: most notably, the presence of saxophonist Joshua Redman. Nonesuch has released an EPK to promote Highway Rider, and while it doesn't give away much of the music, the little it does, leaves me optimistic:
(via Nate Chinen, Nextbop, and Nonesuch)
