E' stato appena pubblicato per l'etichetta Nonesuch Records, il nuovo album del pianista Brad Mehldau intitolato Highway Rider.
L'album è un doppio Cd di pezzi originali nel quale Mehldau è accompagnato oltre che dal suo solito trio (con il batterista Jeff Ballard ed il bassista Larry Grenadier), anche dal batterista Matt Chamberlain, il sassofonista Joshua Redman, ed una orchestra da camera condotta da Dan Coleman.
Sul Perpetual Post di oggi è stata pubblicata una bella recensione dell'album a firma Howard Megdal e Akie Bermiss
L'album è un doppio Cd di pezzi originali nel quale Mehldau è accompagnato oltre che dal suo solito trio (con il batterista Jeff Ballard ed il bassista Larry Grenadier), anche dal batterista Matt Chamberlain, il sassofonista Joshua Redman, ed una orchestra da camera condotta da Dan Coleman.
Sul Perpetual Post di oggi è stata pubblicata una bella recensione dell'album a firma Howard Megdal e Akie Bermiss
Mehldau’s newest record, Highway Rider, is new territory for Mehldau who, of late, has been dabbling in classical music forms and instrumentation. The album features his working trio, but also special guests in drummer Matt Chamberlain and the aforementioned saxophonist Joshua Redamn — as well as a chamber orchestra consisting of 10 violins, 5 violas, 5 cellos, and 3 basses (instrumentation he apparently borrowed from Richard Strauss’ Metamorphosen). And the tracks also feature french horn, bassoon, and contrabassoon. Its a fairly original assemblage of musicians. And, unsurprisingly, the sound it creates is like nothing I’ve ever heard. And yet, Mehldau manages to utilize the ensemble with such fluid grace and dexterity that I didn’t realize how unorthodox the group was until I read his very detailed liner notes.
For those of us who are familiar with Mehldau, its a known that he is constructing impressively long and complex musical ideas from seemingly paltry resources. Having been an avid listen for the past eight years, at least, I can say I think it is a combination of three wonderful attributes (apart of from indisputable technical prowess) . The first is an original and mature voice. Listen to Mehldau in the early 90s with Joshua Redman and then again with his own trio in the early aughties, and then again on his solo record from 2004, and then again with a different trio and Pat Metheny sitting-in from 2008. In all the settings, you can hear an original voice that never seems unsure of itself. While in one instance its certainly nascent and is really more of a shading or texture on top of great jazz chops and then later it is clearly a sound — an original voice — for which jazz and the piano serve as a vehicle. By the time we get to a record like 2004’s Anything Goes its almost like regular jazz repetoire is straining to contain Mehldau & Co. And so his departures down the roads not taken are actually kind of a relief as he seems more able to flex his muscles in the wilder places.
Highway Rider is a wonderful album because it is all roads not taken (and indeed, the metaphor in the narrative is one of a journey through an unknown landscape) down which Mehldau leaps with reckless abandon. Admittedly, there’s nothing on the record that is awesomely ground-breaking, but that’s only because Mehldau and Jon Brion (his co-producer and conspirator on this record) were the ones to break this ground before. They last collaborated on Mehldau’s Largo record — arguably the record that put Mehldau on the map for the broader public. And also another record that fearlessly lept down unkempt roadways and off much-guarded precipices.
Per maggiori informazioni sull'album si può visitare il sito ufficiale di Brad Mehldau o il sito della Nonesuch Record dove è possibile anche dei campioni dei pezzi.
For those of us who are familiar with Mehldau, its a known that he is constructing impressively long and complex musical ideas from seemingly paltry resources. Having been an avid listen for the past eight years, at least, I can say I think it is a combination of three wonderful attributes (apart of from indisputable technical prowess) . The first is an original and mature voice. Listen to Mehldau in the early 90s with Joshua Redman and then again with his own trio in the early aughties, and then again on his solo record from 2004, and then again with a different trio and Pat Metheny sitting-in from 2008. In all the settings, you can hear an original voice that never seems unsure of itself. While in one instance its certainly nascent and is really more of a shading or texture on top of great jazz chops and then later it is clearly a sound — an original voice — for which jazz and the piano serve as a vehicle. By the time we get to a record like 2004’s Anything Goes its almost like regular jazz repetoire is straining to contain Mehldau & Co. And so his departures down the roads not taken are actually kind of a relief as he seems more able to flex his muscles in the wilder places.
Highway Rider is a wonderful album because it is all roads not taken (and indeed, the metaphor in the narrative is one of a journey through an unknown landscape) down which Mehldau leaps with reckless abandon. Admittedly, there’s nothing on the record that is awesomely ground-breaking, but that’s only because Mehldau and Jon Brion (his co-producer and conspirator on this record) were the ones to break this ground before. They last collaborated on Mehldau’s Largo record — arguably the record that put Mehldau on the map for the broader public. And also another record that fearlessly lept down unkempt roadways and off much-guarded precipices.
Per maggiori informazioni sull'album si può visitare il sito ufficiale di Brad Mehldau o il sito della Nonesuch Record dove è possibile anche dei campioni dei pezzi.
grandissimo Brad! Un lavoro incredibile!
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