Live: Brad Mehldau Trio

Live: Brad Mehldau Trio

• MEHLDAU BRAD LIVE (2CD)

The dozen tracks on this double-disc set, produced by Mehldau, were recorded at the Village Vanguard over four evenings, from<br>October 11 to October 15, 2006. New York Times critic Nate Chinen was there on opening night and called the set a marvel of concentration and restraint...On a brisk new original called Ruby's Rub, the trio applied a simmering heat of the sort that once<br>propelled Miles Davis s mid-1960's rhythm section, which featured Herbie Hancock on piano and Tony Williams on drums. Mr. Mehldau<br>soloed judiciously, leaving plenty of space between one phrase and the next. Each opening was an opportunity for Mr. Ballard, whose<br>responses indicated a thoughtful rigor. The other new piece Buddha Realm, an anagram of Mr. Mehldau's name had a similarly<br>investigative quality. Mr. Grenadier provided its anchor, a one-note ostinato. Confident in this mooring, Mr. Mehldau opted for a floating<br>sensibility in his solo, along with some unforced ambidexterity. <br>Brad Mehldau Trio Live opens with a cover of Wonderwall, from the nineties Brit-pop band Oasis, and concludes with a rendition of<br>John Coltrane s Countdown. In between, Mehldau and his cohorts radically and elegantly reinterpret bossa nova (Chico Buarque's<br> O Que Sera ), Seattle grunge (Soundgarden s Black Hole Sun ) and Tin Pan Alley (the 1929 classic More Than You, featured in Barbra<br>Streisand s Funny Lady). The trio also offers its own version of Mehldau's Secret Beach, which first appeared on Metheny /Mehldau<br>Quartet. (That disc, released in 2007, contains tracks cut live in the studio with guitarist Pat Metheny in December 2005). The Brad<br>Mehldau Trio launches its 2008 North American tour in late January with a six-night return to the Village Vanguard. The first leg of the<br>tour runs through June, with a brief overseas trip in March for dates in France and Eastern Europe, including an evening at the Tchaikovsky<br>Concert Hall in Moscow.<br>The original Brad Mehldau Trio, with the rhythm section of bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, played together for nearly<br>a decade, and released two acclaimed live Art of the Trio sets for Warner Bros., recorded at Mehldau's regular haunt in Manhattan, the<br>Village Vanguard. After Rossy retired from the combo, Mehldau introduced a new lineup, featuring drummer Jeff Ballard, on his 2005<br>Nonesuch disc, Day Is Done. The revamped trio s debut studio recording wound up on many critics year-end best-of lists. All About Jazz<br>declared, There s no better scenario than having Jeff Ballard take Jorge Rossy's place in the trio s drum chair... Ballard is every bit as<br>experienced, open, and on fire as Mehldau and bassist Larry Grenadier. Pop Matters called the album the Mehldau Trio's most<br>aggressive and vibrant studio effort to date.