Brad Mehldau – Bittersweet Symphony
Thursday, October 22, 2015
In the last 20 years Brad Mehldau has steadily re-shaped the piano’s modus operandi in jazz by absorbing folk, pop, alt-rock and electronic music, and melding improvisation into classical forms.
While he’s done this most notably with his Trio, and his electronica Mehliana duo with Mark Guiliana, the release of a huge eight-LP vinyl set of a decade’s worth of live performances underscores how he’s masterfully done this as a solo pianist as well. Deconstructing and connecting the music of Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, Nirvana and The Kinks with Coltrane, Monk, Brahms, The Beatles and Beach Boys is – as Alyn Shipton discovers – all part of Mehldau’s voyage of musical discovery
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