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Brad Mehldau
Brad Mehldau
Brad Mehldau
Background information Born Origin Genre(s) Occupation(s) Instrument(s) Years active Associated acts August 23, 1970 (1970-08-23) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. Post-bop, Jazz Pianist, Composer Piano 1993 - present Brad Mehldau Trio, Pat Metheny, Joshua Redman
Brad Mehldau (born August 23, 1970) is an American jazz pianist. Throughout his career he has enjoyed a great deal of success, and besides leading his own group, the Brad Mehldau Trio, 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 [2].
Biography
Mehldau was born Bradford Alexander Mehldau in 1970 in Jacksonville, Florida[3]. 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 AllAround 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. 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. He also 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 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. He cites as influences Miles Davis, Larry Goldings, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jesse Davis, David Sanchez, Oscar Peterson and the other members of his own trio [1]. 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, Aflat 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. Mehldau cherishes brazilian music, referring Milton Nascimento, Chico Buarque and
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Simone. In 2006 presented 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.
Brad Mehldau
As sideman
• Moodswing (1994)- Joshua Redman • Moving In (1996, Concord)- Chris Potter • Timeless Tales for Changing Times (1998)Joshua Redman • 12 Bar Blues (1998, Atlantic)- Scott Weiland • The Water Is Wide (2000, ECM)- Charles Lloyd • Hyperion With Higgins (2001, ECM)Charles Lloyd • Works For Me (2001, Verve)- John Scofield • American Dreams (2002, Verve) - Charlie Haden with Michael Brecker • Man of Many Colors (2002, Criss Cross Jazz) - Walt Weiskopf • Alegria (2003, Verve)- Wayne Shorter • Like a Dream (2004, CryptoGramophone)Darek Oleszkiewicz • Deep Song (2005, Verve)- Kurt Rosenwinkel • Blues Cruise (2005, FSNT)- Chris Cheek • Pilgrimage (2006, Telarc)- Michael Brecker • With All My Heart (2004, BMG Music) Harvey Mason
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)
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.
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
See also
• List of jazz pianists
References
[1] http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/ press/press_release/111702.html [2] http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/ press/press_release/111702.html [3] http://www.bradmehldau.com/content/ music/pdf/mackenzie.pdf [4] Folha de S. Paulo, Mehldau toca Chico e elogia Simone
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Brad Mehldau
• Interview about Nick Drake with performance • "Twelve Essential Brad Mehldau Performances" by Ted Gioia from www.jazz.com • Review of the Brad Mehldau Trio’s 2008 album, "Live"
External links
• Official Brad Mehldau Web Site • Official German Homepage, Warner Music Group • Review of Brad Mehldau’s concert in Prague
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Mehldau" Categories: Post-bop pianists, Contemporary jazz pianists, People from West Hartford, Connecticut, American jazz pianists, 1970 births, Living people This page was last modified on 21 May 2009, at 06:40 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
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