BRAD MEHLDAU - HIGHWAY RIDER

The new album from jazz pianist Brad Mehldau sees him re-team with producer Jon Brion for a work that mixes jazz and pop sensibilities. Highway Rider is their first collaboration since the 2002’s Largo, which sold 34,000 copies (solid numbers for a jazz album) and was one of the most influential jazz releases of recent years. Over the last two decades Mehldau has established himself as a acclaimed pianist in the style of Bill Evans, playing as sideman with a variety of musicians including the Joshua Redman quartet before forming his own trio in 1994, with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, and later Jeff Ballard.

His debut album Introducing Brad Mehldau (1995) was followed by Art Of The Trio, Vol. 1 (1997), with two volumes coming soon after. He returned with Elegiac Cycle (1999), Art Of The Trio, Vol. 4: Back At The Vanguard (1999) and Places (2000), the latter featuring original compositions focusing on various cities. Another Art Of The Trio album arrived in 2001, but a year after he came out with Largo (2002), which saw Mehldau perform with other groups outside of his usual trio format and team up with producer Brion, best known for his work with artists such as Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann and Kanya West. Mehldau followed this the standards-based Anything Goes (2004), Live In Tokyo (2004), Day Is Done (2005), House On The Hill (2006), Love Sublime (2006), and the double-disc Live (2008) which was recorded with his trio at the Village Vanguard.

The latest album sees Jon Brion again in the producer’s chair with Mehldau’s usual trio of Matt Chamberlain (drums), Joshua Redman (saxophone) and a small chamber orchestra led by Dan Coleman. Using a broader instrumental palette than Largo, this 15-track song cycle – which was written, orchestrated, and arranged by Mehldau – reflects his recent experience writing longer-form pieces.

Speaking of his renewed collaboration with Brion, Mehldau has said:
“I knew from working with Jon on Largo that he was the guy who would find a way to put all the pieces together for this project.It was really quite a beast sonically at some points – two drummers playing at the same time, bass, sax, and piano, and then the orchestra on top of that. I wanted to record everything live whenever possible but wasn’t sure if we could do it. Jon had the foresight during the recording, and then a great deal of craft during the mixing, to bring it all together and sound like it does. And we were able to avoid what the conductor Dan Coleman jokingly referred to as “disco strings” – that is, adding the orchestra onto the jazz group’s performance after the fact.”