Music CDs.1 and DVDs

Mehldau Brad

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Another Brad Mehldau album like "Largo" or "Elegiac Cycle" ?

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Id love from Mehldau another experimental album such as "Largo" , or a solo piano album like "Elegiac Cycle" however since then he have released only traditional Jazz albums (wich I love believeme) with his trio (Jorge and Larry) but id like to listen another album with the experimentation of "largo" or the touching melancholy of "Elegiac Cycle" do you agree with me?

Yes, I like his playing a lot too.

I have not heard the two albums that you have mentioned, BUT I have heard him on other albums as a sideman.

One album I can confidently suggest to you is the album by Kurt Rosenwinkel called Deep Song. Mehldau plays piano. The songs on this album are very adventurous. Its a new modern jazz style. Joshua Redman plays an adventurous sax. The whole band is great, Mehldau included. This album could possibly turn you onto every musician on it.

Another CD that I'm familiar with is the first one I ever heard Mehldau play piano. Its a Lee Konitz album called Another Shade of Blue. Its a trio of alto sax, piano, and Charlie Haden on bass. The writing of the music is not too extreme, BUT all the songs are 10 to 17 minutes long. It gives the soloists a chance to really get into something interesting, and run with it. There are portions of Mehldau playing his solos without any accompaniment (solo piano). The old legend, Konitz, seems to use his big name as a way to turn people onto Mehldau with this album. He give Mehldau lots of solo time.
When I heard Mehldau's solos for the first time, I had to grab the cd case to see who it was playing piano, it was really good! He's even good during Konitz's solos, as accompaniment.
Anyway, without a drummer, his solos are free to go where ever he wants, and he takes them to great places.
Its a pretty quiet album, but if you can enjoy solo piano, you should be able to appreciate this great album.
If you end up liking Konitz, hear him on the early Lennie Tristano album called Intuition (a mostly traditional style album).

Your question made me curious about what else he plays on, so I searched on Allmusic.com to find out. I have not heard the album I have listed below, but I am familiar with some of Chris Cheek's playing. I can be pretty sure that this album is of a more progressive nature...

Chris Cheek-Vine. (I think I might get this album, now that I know its out there. Chris Cheek is very good, in my opinion. Also, Kurt Rosenwinkel is on this album. I can't imagine it could not be good.)

Pianist Alan Broadbent contemplates his next song

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The keyboard whiz, known for his comfortable collaborations with singers, plays a solo concert as he prepares to leave Los Angeles for New York. The keyboard whiz, known for his comfortable collaborations with singers, plays a solo concert as he prepares to leave Los Angeles for New York.
Brad Mehldau Trio - Knives Out

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Brad Mehldau Plays Radiohead

Brad Mehldau does things to a piano that should be illegal.  His recent concert at Carnegie Hall astonished a sold-out crowd as he created sounds on a grand piano that didn't seem possible.  Though he played Bach and Brahms, it was his rendition of Radiohead's "Exit Music (For a Film)" that shocked the audience into a realization that he was reinventing the piano on the spot.  His relentless staccato stabbings with his left hand played two parts at once, while his right hand wandered into chords and melodies that were one part Radiohead and two parts mad genius.

Liz Maratta, a New Yorker and long-time Mehldau fan, remembers seeing Brad play in a dingy club in lower Manhattan.  "There was this dreary room, and suddenly he took the stage and it was magic.  He played music I never thought possible," Maratta says.

Mehldau studied jazz at New York's The New School and soon made a name in jazz circles, playing with the likes of Pat Metheny.  His albums and tours include arrangements of the Beatles, Paul Simon, John Mayer and Radiohead, as well as his own compositions.

His eclectic mix led to a historic landmark:  he holds the chair of Carnegie Hall's Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair at Carnegie Hall.  He's the first jazz artist to be so recognized. 

None of this describes the experience of hearing him.  He plays as if he has four hands, with his little finger playing a bass line while his thumb finds melodies and the other hand plays chords and melodies of its own.  He uses all this to launch into a wild trance on the Radiohead song, leaving behind the "how did he do that" questions for a "please keep doing that" thunderbolt of sound that is almost frightening in its emotionalism. 

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Brad Mehldau reinvents Radiohead and Bach - New York Local Music | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/local-music-in-new-york/brad-mehldau-reinvents-radiohead-and-bach#ixzz1Dl3Lzj8d

About the Author

Kevin Johnston has written about music for The New York Daily News, The New York Post and Music Row Magazine. He is known for spotting trends, for picking up-and-coming artists who could break out, and for seeing the demise of careers long before the artists do