Life
Bradford Mehldau was born on August 23, 1970 in Jacksonville, Florida and moved to Connecticut with his family when he was young. Brad played piano from an early age, becoming involved with his high school’s jazz program, studying both jazz and classical music. While Brad was still in high school, he won Berklee College Of Music’s Best All Around Artist. In the late ’80s, after graduating high school, Brad moved to New York City to attend the New School of Music jazz program.
While at the New School, Brad actively performed in the city, mostly with Jimmy Cobb. He studied piano under Kenny Werner, Fred Hersch, and Junior Mance. While continuing his studies through the early ’90s, Brad performed regularly with Joshua Redman. In 1994, Brad formed his first trio with drummer Jorge Rossy and bassist Larry Grenadier. Brad released his first album in 1995, titled Introducing Brad Mehldau, released by Warner Brothers. Joining him was Christian McBride (bass), Brian Blade (drums), Larry Grenadier (bass), and Jorge Rossy (drums). Brad began to tour throughout the country in support of this record. Through 1998, he released a trio of albums: The Art Of The Trio, The Art Of The Trio II - Live At The Village Vanguard, and The Art Of The Trio III - Songs. In 1999 Brad released two more records, Elegiac Cycle and The Art Of The Trio IV - Back At The Village Vanguard, with one last trio installment in 2000. Brad released eight albums total from 1995 to 2000, but appeared on dozens more; all the while, he worked with artists like Willie Nelson and Joe Henry as a sideman.
In 2002 Brad branched out in terms of composition and studio production with his album Largo. The album featured instruments and sounds that hadn’t been heard before on a Mehldau release. Strings, guitars, vibraphone, and even synthesizers can be heard on the record. By far this was Brads most daring album that he had released to date. Brad’s first release for Nonesuch was Brad Mehldau Live In Tokyo in 2004, the first album of many he’s done for Nonesuch Records. From 2005 to 2006, Brad Mehldau released two albums with guitarist Pat Metheny titled Metheny Mehldau, and Metheny Mehldau Quartet. Brad has released several albums since his work with Metheny, all of which have come with critical acclaim and review.
During the span of his career so far, Brad Mehldau has appeared on over 90 albums, 31 of which he released as a leader or co-leader. Brad continues to release music and perform regularly today. It is certain that Brad Mehldau will go down as one of the next great American pianists and composer, as he is widely respected in almost all musical circles.
Style And Technique
Brad Mehldau has a style and personality on the piano all his own. If you were to see him live, the sound of his playing directly correlates to his body language. He is classically trained, which is something he loves to show in his live performances and compositions. One way he presents his classical abilities is by playing a different melody with each hand in different time signatures — especially in his solo piano performances. His touch is soft, but enough to gain the right amount of sound out of the piano. Brad’s improvising can be described as lyrical, not just melodic, and slightly angular. He improvises almost completely with one note at a time, not in octaves, and not within chords. Brad’s comping is contained in clusters and is not very percussive, but rather light and sparse. From time to time Brad with switch comping and improvising between hands. Brad’s harmonic conception is relatively diatonic and modal, rather than playing outside of the key of the tune. Brad also rarely ever looks at the piano while he is performing.
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