House on Hill
Brad Mehldau
2006/Nonesuch

Brad Mehldau's "Art of the Trio" trio, which was together from 1994-2004, underwent a change when drummer Jorge Rossy was replaced by Jeff Ballard. As evidenced by the new group's excellent Day is Done(2005), which may be Mehldau's best record, that has hardly been a detriment. But the pianist remains devoted to the original lineup, which was last heard covering standards, pop tunes, and Radiohead on Anything Goes (2004) and here, on a program mostly drawn from the same sessions, interprets Mehldau originals. Interestingly, he is less frisky with his own material than the standards. "The very condition that allows for expressivity implies its own limitation," he writes in his lengthy, professorial liner notes, which spare no references to Bach and Brahms. But at its best, the upbeat material still has a kind of lyrical swagger--Mehldau creates his own lively contrapuntal effects in playing his right hand off his left--and the ballads attain a pristine beauty. As ever, the trio maintains its intensity in searching for both emotional answers and musical solutions.

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Metheny Mehldau Quartet
Pat Metheny & Brad Mehldau
2007/Nonesuch

New Age-leaning guitarist Pat Metheny and melancholic pianist Brad Mehldau have such distinctive, even rarified, sensibilities (each an acquired taste for some listeners), that their teaming may have looked like a one-time commercial ploy in the beginning. But having found rewarding common ground and a receptive audience through their shared love of pop, Brazilian music and Americana, they likely will work together again. Recorded at the same time as their first album, a duo effort, Quartet takes a satisfying step forward in featuring the Mehldau trio's first-rate bass and drum team, Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard, on most of the tracks. Ranging from rhapsodic reflections to full-tilt fusion fare to loping, Wes Montgomery-inspired tunes--and let's not overlook that Asian-tinged song featuring Metheny on 42-string guitar--the music is sometimes a bit soft at the core. But when the stars are aligned, as on the effortlessly flowing, co-written opener, "A Night Away," and Metheny's charming "En La Tierra Que No Olvida," their partnership glows. It will be interesting to hear where they go from here.

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This is a dream pairing: Pat Metheny, the Baby Boomer guitar god whose musical palette embraces everything from Ornette Coleman to contemporary jazz, teams with pianist Brad Mehldau, the brooding Gen X prince of the piano on the verge of becoming himself. After admiring each other for years, they're now on the same label, and this dynamic duel extends their mutual admiration into a very personal and simpatico release that recalls the intimacy of that 1960s Jim Hall/Bill Evans masterpiece, Undercurrent. Save for Mehldau's bandmates drummer Jeff Ballard and bassist Larry Grenadier forming a quartet on the bop-mazed "Ring of Life" and the Afro-Caribbean cadences of "Say the Brother's Name," it's two for the road on the rest of the recording. When you hear selections like "Unrequited," "Ahmid-6," and "Make Peace," you know that this CD is only the start of something big from these two artists.

CD available at:
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