Blues And Ballads (Nonesuch)
Brad Mehldau Trio
Released June 3, 2016
Jazzwise Top 10 Releases of 2016
YouTube: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=RShj9RTSYMA&list=OLAK5uy_luLkpBvb7MmJZDmoQwKGx8jhzAU4XSI3g
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/68Z45vi66VWZw7nqcOQEwP?si=JjF73400Q9WIwjK95NpLuQ
About:
Nonesuch Records releases the Brad Mehldau Trio’s Blues and Ballads, the trio’s first new release since 2012’s Where Do You Start, on June 3, 2016. The previous release received critical acclaim, with the Financial Times saying, “Mehldau never lets his peerless technique and meticulous timing interrupt the narrative flow of a well-told tale. Here, the pianist and his trio burrow deep into left-field pop and the American songbook, and give an adventurous sheen to modern jazz.” Blues and Ballads similarly comprises interpretations of songs by other composers, this time with the focus on blues and ballads implied by the album’s title. The Brad Mehldau Trio is Mehldau on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Jeff Ballard on drums.
Brad Mehldau moved to New York City and first came to prominence as a member of current label mate Joshua Redman’s quartet in the 1990s before becoming a bandleader himself. His trio, which tours the world extensively, made eight acclaimed recordings for Warner Bros., including the five widely praised Art of the Trio albums with former drummer Jorge Rossy, which Nonesuch released as a boxed set in December 2011. The pianist’s time with Nonesuch has been equally productive, beginning with the solo disc Live in Tokyo and including five trio records—Day Is Done, House on Hill, Live, Ode, and Where Do You Start—as well as a collaboration with soprano Renée Fleming, Love Sublime; a chamber ensemble album, Highway Rider; and two collaborations with label mate Pat Metheny, Metheny Mehldau and Quartet, the latter of which also includes Ballard and Grenadier. In 2011, Nonesuch released Mehldau’s live solo performance on Live in Marciac and his collaborations with genre-crossing musicians Kevin Hays and Patrick Zimmerli on Modern Music. The following year, Nonesuch released Ode, which went on to be nominated for a Grammy, and Where Do You Start. In 2013, Mehldau was featured as a performer and producer on Joshua Redman’s acclaimed Nonesuch release Walking Shadows. His solo on “Sleeping Giant,” on his and Mark Guiliana’s 2014 Nonesuch album Mehliana: Taming the Dragon, was nominated for Best Improvised Jazz Solo in the 2015 Grammy awards. Nonesuch released the 4-CD 10 Years Solo Live in November 2015; later that year, Mehldau received the Wigmore Medal, the first jazz musician ever to do so. Mehldau was also curator of an annual jazz series at Wigmore Hall from 2009 to 2011, and was the first-ever jazz artist to hold the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall, in its 2010–11 season. The Brad Mehldau Trio was named Best International Ensemble at the 2013 Echo Awards, the same year that Where Do You Start was chosen as Album of the Year by the Académie du Jazz.
Track Listing:
1. Since I Fell for You (Buddy Johnson) 10:56
2. I Concentrate on You (Cole Porter) 7:23
(Brad Mehldau, Grammy Nominee for Best Improvised Jazz Solo 2017)
3. Little Person (Jon Brion) 3:55
4. Cheryl (Charlie Parker) 7:42
5. These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You) (Holt Marvell / Jack Strachey) 6:03
6. And I Love Her (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) 9:29
7. My Valentine (Paul McCartney) 10:12
Personnel:
Brad Mehldau: piano
Larry Grenadier: bass
Jeff Ballard: drums
Recorded December
10, 2012 (tracks 1, 4, 6, 7) and May 12, 2014 (tracks 2, 3, 5) at Avatar
Studios, New York, NY
Produced by Brad Mehldau
Recorded and Mixed
by James Farber
Assistant Engineer: Aki Nishimura
Mastered by Greg Calbi
Production Coordinator: Tom Korkidis
Design by Evan Gaffney Design
Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz
Review:
Following the epic, turbo-charged one man showcase on the retrospective 10 Years Solo Live and the exhilarating contemporary prog electronica fireworks of his duo Mehliana’s Taming the Dragon, Brad Mehldau returns to the more intimate format of the acoustic piano trio on which he initially built his inimitable reputation.Blues and Ballads picks up essentially where Where Do You Start? in 2012 left off, with an entire covers collection featuring the usual suspects from The Beatles’ ‘And I Love Her’ (also featured on 10 Years Solo Live) and Paul McCartney’s ‘My Valentine’ from 2012, through to an exquisitely expressive take on Buddy Johnson’s widely-covered sleepy blues standard ‘Since I Fell for You’. More highlights include his rendition of the hip Largo producer Jon Brion’s sweet miniature ‘Little Person’ taken from his score to the film Synecdoche, New York and the sideways swing of the Charlie Parker blues ‘Cheryl’. Mehldau’s unique craftsmanship is undisputed but he also brings a real emotional depth to Blues and Ballads.
Selwyn Harris (Jazzwise)
