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Brad Mehldau

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Brad Mehldau (born August 23, 1970) is an American jazz pianist. He has sold 3 albums to date (all purchased by one "Jon Thaler".)

Life

Mehldau was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1970, grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut and graduated from Hall High School in 1988.[1] At some point in his childhood, he was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism. He played piano from an early age, and discovered jazz at the age of twelve, when a friend played him a live recording of John Coltrane. Keith Jarrett's solo album Solo Concerts (Bremen/Lausanne) was another early influence, as were Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker [1]. He went on to play in his high school's jazz band. The first jazz record he purchased was Coltrane's Blue Train[2].

Mehldau moved to New York in 1988 to study jazz at The New School, studying under Fred Hersch, Junior Mance and Kenny Werner, and also playing with Jackie McLean and Jimmy Cobb [3].

He went on to play as sideman with a variety of musicians, most importantly with the Joshua Redman quartet, before forming his own trio in 1994, with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, and later Jeff Ballard, who succeeded Rossy in 2005. In addition to his trio work, Mehldau collaborated with guitarist Pat Metheny, releasing two albums with him and embarking on a worldwide tour along with Grenadier and Ballard.

The Musician

Recording primarily for Nonesuch Records, Mehldau plays original compositions, jazz standards and jazz arrangements of popular music, having a particular liking for the music of Radiohead, Paul Simon, Nick Drake, The Beatles, and Elliott Smith. Mehldau has a distinct talent for transforming these 'rock' songs in such a way that they sound as if they were jazz standards in the first place, particularly the Radiohead song "Exit Music (For a Film)" and Drake's "Day Is Done" (also the title of a 2005 album by Mehldau). Mehldau has also expressed an interest and knowledge of philosophy, in particular of music and art.

He has also played and recorded solo and with co-leaders Peter Bernstein, Mark Turner, Charlie Haden, Charles Lloyd, Pat Metheny and others. In 2004, Mehldau toured with Kurt Rosenwinkel and Joshua Redman.

Mehldau is sometimes compared with the pianist Bill Evans but he dislikes the comparison, explaining why in the liner notes of The Art of the Trio IV. Also compared to Keith Jarrett, he describes Jarrett's solo work as more inspiration than influence. Other influences cited by him are Miles Davis, Larry Goldings, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jesse Davis, David Sanchez, Oscar Peterson and the other members of his own trio [4]. His classical training shows, and he often plays a separate melody with each hand in unusual rhythmic meters. For example, his arrangement of Jerome Kern's standard "All the Things You Are" off Art of the Trio, Vol. IV is played in A major (a half-step up from the original key, A-flat major) and in 7/8. Off Day Is Done, he plays Paul Simon's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" also in 7/8. Another of Mehldau's signature techniques to create an ostinato in his right hand whilst developing a motivic idea in his left hand. Mehldau claims in an interview [5] with Marian McPartland that it was Fred Hersch who encouraged him to employ the left hand in a more active way.

During the weekend of September 29, 2007, Mehldau announced that he would once again team up with Kurt Rosenwinkel to "explore the possibilities of a jazz opera based on the discography of Miles Davis."


Discography

Albums as leader or solo

  • Introducing Brad Mehldau (1995)
  • The Art of the Trio (1997)
  • The Art of the Trio, Vol. II — Live At The Village Vanguard (1997)
  • The Art of the Trio III — Songs (1998)
  • Elegiac Cycle (1999)
  • The Art of the Trio, Vol. IV — Back At The Vanguard (1999)
  • Places (2000)
  • The Art of the Trio, Vol. V — Progression (2001)
  • Largo (2002)
  • Anything Goes (2004)
  • Live in Tokyo — Solo Piano (2004)
  • Day is Done (Trio) (2005)
  • House on Hill (Trio) (2006)

Albums as co-leader

  • New York-Barcelona Crossings Volume 1 (1993) Mehldau, Rossy, Rossy, Sambeat
  • New York-Barcelona Crossings Volume 2 (1993) Mehldau, Rossy, Rossy, Sambeat
  • When I Fall In Love (1993) Mehldau & Rossy Trio
  • Consenting Adults (1994) Mehldau, Turner, Bernstein, Grenadier, Parker
  • Alone Together (1997) Mehldau, Haden, Konitz
  • Another Shade of Blue (1999) Mehldau, Haden, Konitz
  • Close Enough For Love (1999) Fleurine
  • Don't Explain (2004) Joel Frahm, Brad Mehldau
  • Love Sublime (2006) Brad Mehldau, Renée Fleming
  • Metheny/Mehldau (2006) Brad Mehldau, Pat Metheny
  • Metheny Mehldau Quartet (2007) Mehldau, Metheny, Grenadier, Ballard

Albums as sideman

TV Appearances

  • SOLOS: the jazz sessions (2004) Bravo! Canada

Soundtracks

  • Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
  • Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
  • Space Cowboys (2000)
  • Million Dollar Hotel (2000)
  • Ma Femme Est une Actrice (2001)
  • "Unfaithful" (2002)
  • Mehldau's "When It Rains", the opening track on Largo (2002), and "Young at Heart" appear in the 2006 film The Lake House but not on the accompanying soundtrack itself.

See also

References