Brad Mehldau

Bradford Alexander "Brad" Mehldau (/ˈmɛlˌdaʊ/; born August 23, 1970) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.

Mehldau studied music at The New School, and toured and recorded while still a student. He was a member of saxophonist Joshua Redman's Quartet with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade in the mid-1990s, and has led his own trio since at least 1992. His first long-term trio featured bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy; in 2005 Jeff Ballard replaced Rossy. These bands have released a dozen albums under the pianist's name.

Since the early 2000s Mehldau has experimented with other musical formats in addition to trio and solo piano. Largo, released in 2002, contains electronics and input from rock and classical musicians; later examples include touring and recording with guitarist Pat Metheny, writing and playing song cycles for classical singers Renée Fleming and Anne Sofie von Otter, composing orchestral pieces for 2009's Highway Rider, and playing electronic keyboard instruments in a duo with drummer Mark Guiliana.

Aspects of pop, rock, and classical music, including German Romanticism, have been absorbed into Mehldau's writing and playing. Through his use of some traditional elements of jazz without being restricted by them, simultaneous playing of different melodies in separate hands, and incorporation of pop and rock pieces, Mehldau has influenced musicians in and beyond jazz in their approaches to writing, playing, and choice of repertoire.

Mehldau was born on August 23, 1970, in Jacksonville, Florida. His father, Craig Mehldau, was a doctor; and his mother, Annette, was a homemaker. His sister, Leigh Anne, became a social worker. There was always a piano in the house during Mehldau's childhood, and he initially listened to pop and rock music on the radio. His family moved to West Hartford, Connecticut, when Mehldau was 10. Up to this point he had played mostly simple pop tunes and exercises from books, but the move brought him a new piano teacher, who introduced him to classical music. This new interest lasted for a few years, but by the age of 14 he was listening more to jazz, including recordings by saxophonist John Coltrane and pianist Oscar Peterson.

Mehldau attended William H. Hall High School and played in its concert jazz band. From the age of 15 until he graduated from high school he had a weekly gig at a local club, and performed for weddings and other parties. In his junior year at the school he won Berklee College's Best All Round Musician Award for school students. Mehldau described himself as being, up to this point, "a white, upper-middle-class kid who lived in a pretty homogenized environment".

After graduating, Mehldau moved to New York City in 1988 to study jazz and contemporary music at The New School. He studied under pianists Fred Hersch, Junior Mance and Kenny Werner, and drummer Jimmy Cobb. In 1989 Mehldau was part of saxophonist Christopher Hollyday's band that toured for several months; as a result of playing so often with one group, Mehldau was able to assimilate the music of Wynton Kelly and McCoy Tyner, his two principal influences on piano up to that point, and began to develop his own sound. Before the age of 20 Mehldau also had gigs in Cobb's band, along with fellow student Peter Bernstein on guitar.

Mehldau's first recording was for Hollyday's The Natural Moment in 1991; his first tour of Europe was also with the saxophonist that year. Mehldau's interest in classical music returned when he was in his early twenties, and spurred him into developing his left-hand playing. He led his own trio from at least 1992, when he played at New York's Village Gate. Mehldau also played as sideman with a variety of musicians around this time. His performances with saxophonist Perico Sambeat included a tour of Europe early in 1993, and Mehldau's first released recordings as co-leader, from a May concert in Barcelona. Mehldau also toured for 18 months with saxophonist Joshua Redman. This association began in 1993, but they had played together for a short period the previous year. Redman and his band attracted attention, with their 1994 album Moodswing also aiding Mehldau's profile. They also played together for the soundtrack to the 1994 film Vanya on 42nd Street, for which Redman wrote the music.

Mehldau graduated from The New School in 1993. He formed his first long-term trio in 1994, with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy. In the following year, Mehldau recorded Introducing Brad Mehldau for Warner Bros., his first album as sole leader. It was well received, with The Penguin Guide to Jazz commenting that "it's as if he were aware of jazz tradition but entirely unencumbered by it." His second album for Warner Bros., The Art of the Trio Volume One, was recorded in 1995 and was widely praised by critics. The title was selected by producer Matt Pierson as one that would attract attention and help to build a brand.

By the mid- to late 1990s Mehldau was regarded by some as one of the leading jazz musicians: critic John Fordham described him as "the next great keyboard star of jazz". The appreciation was not universal: some of the pianist's self-penned liner notes and interview comments, which included philosophical musings and complaints about comparisons with pianist Bill Evans, engendered dislike in some, thereby, in critic Nate Chinen's words, "leaving Mehldau with a lingering reputation for pretentiousness and self-indulgence." Many critics did, though, reassess their judgment of his main influences, which previously had often been given as Evans, an assessment that was perhaps attributable more to race than to music. Another non-musical similarity with Evans that was commented on was Mehldau's struggle with an addiction to heroin during the 1990s, up to 1998. Around 1996 he moved to Los Angeles, to try to overcome this drug problem. Mehldau later stated that "Once I stopped using heroin, it was like a rush of creativity that had been held in check came out".

In 1996 Mehldau made the first of several recordings with saxophonist Lee Konitz and bassist Charlie Haden. Mehldau's contributions to film music continued in 1997, with an accompanist role for some of the tracks recorded for Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. His series of trio albums also continued, employing some of the traditional elements of jazz while not conforming to or being restricted by its norms. Live at the Village Vanguard: The Art of the Trio Volume Two consisted entirely of standards, and was recorded at a series of 1997 concerts at the Village Vanguard, and released the following year. The title again attracted attention, as concert recordings from the same club had been issued by some of the biggest names in jazz, including Evans, and saxophonists Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. The studio album Songs: The Art of the Trio Volume Three followed later in 1998, and contained Mehldau originals, standards, plus Nick Drake's "River Man", and Radiohead's "Exit Music (For a Film)". This album was chosen by Fordham as his jazz CD of the year. "[Although it] might seem to some a little introverted, and certainly distinctly classical in flavor", he wrote, "the intricacy and counter-melodic richness of a great pianist is astonishingly balanced against the more direct and open eloquence a great vocalist might bring."

Mehldau became established on the international jazz festival scene in the mid- to late 1990s, having played at events such as the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1997, and the North Sea Jazz Festival in 1998. Also in 1998, the pianist reunited with Redman for the saxophonist's Timeless Tales (For Changing Times), and played on country artist Willie Nelson's Teatro. That summer, Mehldau spent a few months in Germany, developing his interest in its language, literature, and music.