Brad Mehldau releases new solo album to raise funds for COVID-19 Musician’s Emergency Fund
Friday, June 12, 2020
A new 15-track solo piano LP, Suite: April 2020, will be released on a limited run of 1,000 signed and numbered 180g vinyl LPs to raise funds for musicians affected by the pandemic
Revered US pianist Brad Mehldau has used his time in lockown while sheltering with his family in the Netherlands, to record a brand new solo album of 12 original compositions and three favourite standards, all inspired by what he was feeling at the time, which will be released as Suite: April 2020 on 12 June via the Nonesuch store. Mehldau recorded the album safely at a studio in Amsterdam and is released as a limited-edition deluxe 180-gram vinyl LP. One thousand numbered and signed copies are available for $100 across the Nonesuch Store, Bandcamp, and Discogs, with $90 of each sale (after distribution costs) donated to the Jazz Foundation of America’s COVID-19 Musician’s Emergency Fund. The album is also released digitally, on CD and on standard vinyl editions from 18 September, with a portion of those sales also to benefit JFA’s Fund.
Speaking about the album Mehldau says: “Suite: April 2020 is a musical snapshot of life in the last month in the world in which we’ve all found ourselves. I’ve tried to portray on the piano some experiences and feelings that are both new and common to many of us. In ‘Keeping Distance,’ for example, I traced the experience of two people social distancing, represented by the left and right hand – how they are unnaturally drawn apart, yet remain linked in some unexplainable, and perhaps illuminating way. As difficult as COVID-19 has been for many of us, there have been moments of revelation along the way. ‘Stopping, Listening: Hearing’ highlights that moment as well. I’ve pointed to some of the strong feelings that have arisen the past month or more: ‘Remembering Before All This’ expresses a bittersweet gut-pain that has hit me several times out of the blue, when I think back on how things were even just a few months ago, and how long ago and far away that seems now; ‘Uncertainty’ hits on the feeling that can follow right after that – a hollow fear of an unknown future.”
Meldau performs 'Remembering Before All This' on the video below and talks about why he made the recording.
The track listing is as follows: 1. Waking Up, 2. Stepping Outside, 3. Keeping Distance, 4. Stopping, Listening: Hearing, 5. Remembering Before All This, 6. Uncertainty, 7. The Day Moves On, 8. Yearning Bluesy Ascending, 9. Waiting E-flat Meditation, 10. In the Kitchen, 11. Family Harmony, 12. Lullaby, 13. Don’t Let It Bring You Down (Neil Young) 14. New York State of Mind (Billy Joel), and 15. Look for the Silver Lining (B.G. DeSylva / Jerome Kern).
Order Suite: April 2020 from these online stores smarturl.it/suiteapril2020