Rick Beato Meets Brad Mehldau

[Tenor Freak]

Great interview with Brad Mehldau:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oT7O-ujYoo

[Ian Thumwood]

I really like Rick Beato's podcasts. The ones on pop music are really interesting for me as be pulls the music apart . Although he comes from a rock background, he is a jazz fan at heart.

I started to listen to Mehldau and find it interesting. Beato is really switched on to what is happening. Mehldau's touch and sense of harmony is incredible. In my opinion, he is one of the most recognisable jazz pianists around today. He comes across as pretty humourless as a person. I cannot recall just how many times I have heard him play live but I think he is a real marmite player. In the old days of "Impressions", I heard him for the first time with Konitz and Haden and was blown away. The same happened when I first heard him with his trio, There are other times when I have been bored to tears with him such as when I saw hm in a quartet with Pat Metheny. That should have been brilliant but seemed to sum up for me how bland a lot of jazz was starting to become.

When he is good, Melhdau is brilliant. . His moves towards more rock-orientated material with Mark Guilliana on drums is pretty dreadful, I did listen to the "Jacob's ladder" record and had nothing good to say about it. The Bach solo disc, by contrast, was exceptional. I am not too fussed by him recording modern pop music although , listening to the interview, he approaches this with genuine affection and musical logic. Everytime i hear musicians doing this. I keep thinking about Steve Lacy's hostility towards using pop songs as material after he remarked that there is sufficent jazz material to use without resorting to pop music. I suppose it is a snobby attitude and the antithesis of what Mehldau is about . Mehldau makes a good argument for exploting this material and it makes hom different. He has effectively taken over from Jarrett as the defining jazz pianist of his generation since he is effectively a more "Romantic" player but the piano trio is an increasingly less rewarding format to my ears. The best piano trio I have heard recently was Tyshawm SOrey's which took it's cues from Jarrett whilst flirting with more of an outfit field and a tendancy to tackle the works of jazz composers like Muhal Richard Abrams that, ahum. "Radiohead."

[Ian Thumwood]

I have been fascinated to learn that the latest Mehldau has continued to mine classical repertoire. There is a volume 2 to the solo Bach project which I felt was one of the most interesting albums he has done. The first volume underscored how influential JSB remains to jazz musicians. However, the latest project is , if anything , more controversial as it largely consists of music by Gabriel Faure.

I would hold my hands up and say that I find Faure to be as frustrating a figure as Mehldau. This is not through the fault of the composer but because I have always felt that it takes a great artist to make Faure's music work. In the hands of the less talented, it can be bland. Played by the likes of Kathryn Stott, the music for piano is brilliant. I have the music to the Noctournes and was put off by the difficulty and the fact the no amateur will ever make a passable attempt at playing this. I found it far too difficult. Listening to maestros playing Faure , you can sense why he was probably the most talented composer after Scriabin to follow in the wake of Chopin.

I will be very curious to hear how Mehldau addresses this music as I think they would be a perfect fit. There is a review in JJ website but has anyone else heard this disc.

BTW... thanks to SA for the CPE Bach recommendation as I had never listened to him before and was unaware of hiow and good he was. I bought the Naxos disc by French pianist called Chaplin and felt that the whole manner in which he makes the music unfurl was reminiscent of Keith Jarrett. It had some reviews and the interpretation struck me as making the music appear to sound improvised. I love the poise of this playing which is a marked difference to the almost casual feel of Haydns sonatas although I have been addicted to the Naxos Scarlatti series where each disc is by a different pianist ... some managing to evoke a similar 'jazzy ' approach which I feel is appropriate. JSB may be the obvious choice. I just feel that Scarlatti should be equally reverred by jazz fans

[Alyn_Shipton]

Heard some of the Faure on Radio 3. Boardees might find this interesting: https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/formation-mehldau/

[Serial_Apologist]

Heard some of the Faure on Radio 3. Boardees might find this interesting: https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/formation-mehldau/

Alyn.

Fauré's a jolly good fellow.

[Ian Thumwood]

I find Rick Beato to be one of the most interesting producers of podcasts on the Internet.

What I find interesting is his take down of pop music and how he dissects the music. I am somewhat on this fence with this. Mehldau is a massive advocate of using pop material as a vehicle for jazz improvisation but it fascinates me how someone as informed as Rick Beato unashamedly manages to find something rewarding un unadulterated pop music. A recent podcast made a good case in favour of Selina Carpenter's 'Please, please , please ' whereas I have heard Harry Styles similarly praised for 'Late night talking.' There a live BBC version of the latter with a terrific girl drummer in the band which certainly made me realise that there are some pop artists who are genuine musicians and they are not always who you imagine. Lady Ga Ga is probably the best contemporary example and someone who is grounded both in classical music and jazz.

[Belgrove]

Ian, I agree with you that Mehldau is one of the most accomplished and interesting pianists around today. The Après Fauré release is a fascinating listen. I find that late Fauré requires a lot of work to crack, and this contains a couple of the late Nocturnes, but it’s a rewarding journey to take. Mehldau makes a convincing case for it to be a kind of proto-jazz and picks up on this with four of his own compositions.