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Brad Mehldau

 
Artist: Brad Mehldau
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists
Brad Mehldau

Similar Artists:

Jacky Terrasson, Yaron Herman, Tim Green, Sean Wayland, Christopher O'Riley

Influenced By:

Bill Evans

Followers:

Scott Fisher, Jurgen Friedrich

Performed Songs By:

Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers

Worked With:

Jorge Rossy, Matt Pierson, Larry Grenadier, James Farber

Formal Connection With:

Joshua Redman, Ben Goldberg
  • Active: '90s, 2000s
  • Genres: Jazz
  • Instrument: Piano
  • Representative Albums: "Places," "Elegiac Cycle," "The Art of the Trio, Vol. 4: Back at the Vanguard"

Biography

Brad Mehldau was another of the plethora of young jazz pianists in the '90s to adopt Bill Evans as their role model. Yet while the influence of Evans still thoroughly dominates Mehldau's introspective manner, harmonic constructions, and preferred format (the piano trio), he is one of the more absorbing and thoughtful practitioners within that idiom, and he is receptive to the idea of using material from the rock era (Paul McCartney's "Blackbird," for example). Though Mehldau's training is primarily classical, his interest in jazz began early. He played in the Hall High School jazz band of Hartford, CT, winning Berklee College's Best All-Around Musician Award while still in his junior year of high school. He studied jazz at New York's New School for Social Research under Fred Hersch, Junior Mance, Kenny Werner, and Jimmy Cobb. Cobb soon hired him to play in his band, Cobb's Mob, and Mehldau also played and recorded with the Joshua Redman Quartet before forming his own trio in 1994 and recording his first Warner Bros. album, Introducing Brad Mehldau, in 1995. Art of the Trio, Vol. 1 followed in 1997, with the next two volumes in the series appearing over the following months. Two years later, Mehldau returned with Elegiac Cycle, as well as Art of the Trio, Vol. 4: Back at the Vanguard. Places followed in 2000, consisting of all original compositions that focused on a certain city, hence the title of the album. Another Art of the Trio album came in 2001, but the most significant release was Largo, which recorded Mehldau performing with other groups outside of his usual trio format. This was a big change from his previous work, and offered new challenges as he adapted to several interesting lineup situations. Mehldau followed the genre-bending album with the standards-based Anything Goes and Live in Tokyo in 2004, with Day Is Done arriving the following year. In 2006, he released House on Hill as well as Love Sublime, the latter with soprano vocalist Renée Fleming, on Nonesuch Records. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Brad Mehldau
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Brad Mehldau

Background information
Born August 23, 1970 (1970-08-23) (age 39)
Origin Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Genres Post-bop, Jazz
Occupations Pianist, Composer
Instruments Piano
Years active 1993 – present
Associated acts Brad Mehldau Trio, Pat Metheny, Joshua Redman

Brad Mehldau (born August 23, 1970) is an American jazz pianist. Besides leading his own group, the Brad Mehldau Trio, he has performed with multitudes of renowned artists, including Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jimmy Cobb, and classical vocalists Renee Fleming[1] and Anne Sofie von Otter.[1]

Contents

Biography

Mehldau was born Bradford Alexander Mehldau in 1970 in Jacksonville, Florida.[2] His family moved to Connecticut where Mehldau spent most of his childhood and high school. While a sophomore in high school, he won Berklee College's Best All-Around Musician Award. 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 Jimmy Cobb.[citation needed] 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.

Recording primarily for Nonesuch Records, Mehldau plays original compositions, jazz standards and jazz arrangements of popular music, especially rock music. With his trio, he has recorded arrangements of the music of Nick Drake, The Beatles, Radiohead and Paul Simon among others, and recorded the Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" on his 2006 album, Live. Mehldau has also expressed an interest in and knowledge of philosophy, in particular of music and art. He has 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.

He cites as influences Larry Goldings, Kevin Hays, Peter Bernstein, Mark Turner, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jesse Davis, David Sanchez and the other members of his own trio.[3] His classical training shows, and he often plays a separate melody with each hand in unusual rhythmic meters. For example, he plays his arrangement of Jerome Kern's standard "All the Things You Are" on Art of the Trio, Vol. IV in A major (a half-step up from the original key, A-flat major) played in 7/4 time. On Day Is Done, he also plays Paul Simon's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" in 7/4. Another of Mehldau's signature techniques is to create an ostinato in his right hand whilst developing a motivic idea in his left hand.[citation needed]

Mehldau cherishes Brazilian music, citing Milton Nascimento, Chico Buarque and Simone. In 2006 he appeared at the Auditório do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo and declared: "I only met Simone's work last year and it was like meeting Sarah Vaughan or Dinah Washington. She has a strong identity and sings with a lot of passion and grace".[4]

Mehldau is married to Dutch jazz vocalist Fleurine, with whom he has recorded and toured extensively.

Discography

As leader

  • 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, Vol. 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)
  • Live (Trio) (2008)

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

As sideman

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.

TV Appearances as performer

SOLOS: The Jazz Sessions[5] (2004)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/press/press_release/111702.html
  2. ^ http://www.bradmehldau.com/content/music/pdf/mackenzie.pdf
  3. ^ Brannon, Mike. "Brad Mehldau's Opening, Middle and Endgame". http://www.jazzreview.com/articledetails.cfm?ID=2318. Retrieved 2009-07-02. 
  4. ^ Folha de S. Paulo, Mehldau toca Chico e elogia Simone
  5. ^ http://www.solosjazz.com/a_brad.php

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
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