During the last months I tried hard to repress my desire to write about him just because I wanted to wait his brand new album that was very recently released.
I am planning to make you acquainted with Brad Mehldau, as usual, not on the axis of his biography but mostly based on his works, particularly his 3 works that, according to me, could give a definition of his true genius.
Brad MEHLDAU:
Mehldau, born in 1970, started the piano early, but until 10 years old, did not do much, just playing pop songs. When the family moved to Connecticut, he began to take classical lessons until 14 and after that switched to jazz. I can say he was really gifted to achieve such a fast improvement in a short period of time. In his high school years he won the Berklee's Musician Award. He moved to New York right after high school and began studying jazz and contemporary music in college.
By the age of 20 he was already a touring and recording pianist playing in different bands.
Early 90s, he worked with saxophonist Joshua Redman, bass player Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade. In 1994, he formed his own band with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy (later to be replaced by Jeff Ballard). This trio was going to make many impressive albums together.
He has been involved in many recordings with a widespread of talented artists from various idioms.
Apart from his primary focus on jazz, he also led many projects from classical to rock and to electronic. One can hear many diverse sounds in his compositions and playing through his use of some traditional elements of jazz without being restricted by them, simultaneous playing of two different melodies with both hands, and incorporation of pop and rock pieces, Mehldau has influenced musicians in and beyond jazz in their approaches to writing, playing, and choice of repertoire.
Especially the use of classical music (even though he practiced a classical repertoire not for long) in his playing is quite extraordinary. Probably this helped a lot in his left hand skills.
He, as a leader, made his first album "Introducing Brad Mehldau" in 1995. "The Art of the Trio Volume One" followed just a year after and this album attracted the attention of the critics. Some even associated him with the playing of Bill Evans. Another resemblance with Evans would be his heroin addiction that lasted till 1998. Somehow he managed to make influential albums during this period, he recorded his "The Art of the Trio Volume Two" as a leader, and as a side man he worked with Lee Konitz, Chris Potter, Anthony Wilson and Avishai Cohen.
After he quit his drug problems he became even more productive and recorded "The Art of the Trio Volume Three", in my opinion one of the top 3 albums of Mehldau. In one interview he stated that "once I stopped using heroin, it was like a rush of creativity that had been held in check came out". And I believe this album reflects this very well.
The album contained his original compositions and major standards like "Young at Heart," "For All We Know," and "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," as well as covers of Nick Drake's "River Man" and Radiohead's "Exit Music (For a Film)." One can feel Keith Jarrett's lyrical playing and Bill Evans' intellect through Mehldau's piano.
"Exit Music", Radiohead cover
The amazing thing that makes him so great is how he makes you feel especially on the covers and standards. It is like he picks every single note with a pair of tweezers deconstructing the full piece sound by sound and then re-architects them again. By doing so, you hear the same song but in a very different feel that has been passed through Mehldau's very own distillation process (just like a dram of fine whiskey)...
"Bewitched, bothered and bewildered"
Until 2002, he made couple of other records for the Warner Bros label like his first solo work "Elegiac Cycle", "Places" "The Art of the Trio Volume Four and Five" and "Largo". From this period I could recommend "Largo" as it has a different sound with some use of electronics along with woodwind and brass sections and "Elegiac Cycle" probably as one of his most inventive recordings. You can easily hear how he is influenced by Chopin, Brahms and Schumann. I never understood why these 2 albums did not earn the credit they both well deserved. If you ever come across the CD of "Elegiac Cycle", please read the liner notes written by Mehldau himself in order to understand his intellectual side as well.
"Paranoid Android" another Radiohead cover
"Memory's Trick"
In 2003, he made his first Nonesuch label album. I think it was a good move for him to switch labels (even though the parent company is still Warner, Nonesuch is known for its high quality recordings and amazing artists) as probably the new label was letting him to express his music in a freer way. In the very same year he recorded another solo piano album "Live In Tokyo" followed by 2 albums with his usual trio (but replacing Rossy with Ballard on the drums). In 2005 he worked with Pat Metheny for 2 recording sessions.
In 2006, Mehldau co-led an album with a well-known soprano Renée Fleming. The duo recorded the "Love Sublime" album musically performing the poems of Rainer Maria Rilke called the "Book of Hours". In later years Mehldau recorded a similar album with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter again based on poems of Teasdale and Cummings.
During 2008 and 2011 he recorded the albums "Ode" and "Where do you start?" with the classic trio. I think "Ode" is one of the best recordings that illustrates the musical complexity and the development of the trio.
In 2014, came the "Mehliana: Taming the Dragon" album, in my opinion the second one that proves Mehldau's genius. In this recording he is accompanied by drummer Mark Guilliana. Mehldau plays synthesizer, Rhodes and piano, he also has some vocal parts as well. This is a completely different sound compared to what he has done previously and his use of electronics is amazing.
"Just Call Me Nige"
"Taming the Dragon"
After 2014 Mehldau slowed down a little bit, most probably to spend more time with his wife and 3 children. Anyhow he managed to make 2 albums until his last one also releasing a box set of his "10 Years Solo Live" performances.
Now let's come to his latest album that was released couple of weeks ago, "After Bach". This is the 3rd album that shows his genius once again. It is a confirmation that he is also a great classical pianist, just like he has always been a highly influential one in the jazz idiom. As the album's title suggests, Mehldau plays Bach. But he does so in a different manner. First he plays a prelude or a fugue of Bach's from the "Well-Tempered Clavier Book", followed by his own composition in response to the previous piece.
"After Bach:Rondo"
Please don't think that this is an album similar to Jacques Loussier's renowned Bach albums. It's not that I don't like those albums, but Mehldau's is somewhere up there musically. He makes the listener to think once again how close Bach was to jazz structurally. Listening to the rich harmonies and contrapuntal highlights significantly raises the bar for the future Bach interpreters.
With this album, if I may be bold, Mehldau has reached a level where Keith Jarrett had settled down for a long time now. In my opinion an artist can only achieve this with some sort of enlightenment and this album proves that Mehldau has reached the peak thanks to his musical genius, philosophical and literary intellect.
I tried to highlight some of his major works but you need to dig deeper in order to truly understand the things that make Brad Mehldau who he is...
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