Brad Mehldau Trio - Blues And Ballads (2016)

Brad Mehldau - piano
Larry Grenadier - bass
Jeff Ballard - drums

Tracklist:
01 - Since I Fell for You
02 - I Concentrate On You
03 - Little Person
04 - Cheryl
05 - These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)
06 - And I Love Her
07 - My Valentine

@Nonesuch Records, 2016


It's easy to play the blues—or at the very least it's easy to learn the basics—but keeping the form fresh and interesting is another matter entirely. Likewise, any beginner can tackle a quiet ballad, but presenting something simple and pretty is really harder than it sounds. The Brad Mehldau Trio manages its always-distinctive blend of all those things on this lineup's fifth release, still making song-sculpting and harmonic shifting into something both inventive and accessible.

They run a vast gamut in "Since I Fell for You" alone as they stretch that age-old I-IV-V pattern into a ten-minute exploration that never settles into rut or repetition. Mehldau wanders from lightly bouncing shuffle to freeform tonal meandering and back again, while Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier demonstrate their impeccable skill for knowing when to add a light touch and when it's best to stay out of the way.

The opener and the smoky "My Valentine" wind up bookending the album with the bluesiest treatments while largely sandwiching the more song-based pieces in between. As the title declares, this set omits the genre-spanning originals and modern rock covers (or often reinventions, rather) that usually make part of his mix in favor of more familiar material.

A couple Lennon/McCartney tunes are the newest ones to be found here, while the disc is rounded out by a few standards quite a bit older than that from the likes of Charlie Parker or Cole Porter. In the spirit (if not necessarily the footsteps) of Keith Jarrett's classic trio, this crew is concerned less with the songs themselves than the possibilities for exploration they can offer. Each provides a springboard to playful dialogue and the chance for surprise.

"I Concentrate on You" luxuriates in its airy minor Latin feel while the Beatles' "And I Love Her" gets an extended workout, including staggered rhythmic grooving and a sort of subdued mini-crescendo between the piano and Ballard's drums. The framework may start straightforwardly, but even the simpler pieces get stretched with Mehldau's mix of kaleidoscopic chording and smoothly winding melody runs.

The trio continually enjoys the easy back-and-forth of longtime mates without losing any spontaneity. Whether there's some complexity behind a song's structure or not, the results are always pleasing to the ear and no trouble to simply follow if you don't feel like dissecting what's going on. More seriously intense work can wait for another album (or for the listener, another hour). Forward-thinking envelope-pushers deserve a break now and then as much as anyone, and Blues and Ballads makes an enticing rainy-day listen to give their down time and ours a most beautifully cool accompaniment.

By: GENO THACKARA
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/blues-and-ballads-brad-mehldau-trio-nonesuch-records-review-by-geno-thackara.php






「Mehldau從未讓他那無與倫比的技巧與注重細節的時間掌握阻礙了完美述說故事的敘述流暢性。這位鋼琴家與他的三重奏樂團深入探索爵士外界的流行樂與美國歌本金曲，為現代的爵士樂帶來了充滿冒險性的光彩。」

這三位自2005年開始搭檔，至今已積蓄了足夠的默契。
可以說已經達到巔峰狀態，近年的每一張專輯都充滿驚喜！
而這張藍調與芭樂，又特別適合雷雨交加的夏日夜晚。。。