fyi Brad was highly influenced by Bill Evans when he first studied jazz with my (then) husband, Lee Callahan. Brad was still in high school. He started by learning and improvising off Bill Evan's voicings, around the cycle of fourths. Lee and I were blown away by Brad's improvisations. When he was still in high school, Lee got Brad a gig, with a jazz trio, at the 880 Club in Hartford. His parents had to accompany him, because he was so young. Brad came for lessons with Lee week after week, and month after month, and Lee finally said, "I've taught you everything I know. Take your genius and enjoy making music." The rest is history.
Isn't that such a charm things like this make me feel like I need to get my ass up it's inspiring to say the least love the background thank you for that honestly
Unquestionably a born talent for the art of improvising and taking it to stratospheric heights that only the best jazz players can attain, I was privileged to know Brad in the late 90's as his piano technician. A really nice guy, so modest and a great listener as I noticed in our occasional talks.
Quoting the theme, deconstructing the theme, losing the way, finding the way back. This piece of music is an allegory of life. This is how the great Art is.
Quel digne fils spirituel de Bille Evans, respectueux de la ligne et la tordant avec audace et grâce pour mieux la caresser de nouveau !... Que nous surfions ainsi sur la vague du Covid, porté par une confiance inébranlable soufflée par une fraternité sans limite !... prenez soin de vous et des autres ! ...Take care oneanother and yourself in the same time...Bien à vous. B
Jazz has lost the passion and the heart, today. Everybody think too much, and feel less. It's all coming from head. But Brad is in another dimension. So deep and emotional music. His dynamics flow. He is a poet. He plays classical music in a jazz approach.
@@sofianoiti Such a wrong statement, please, for the respect of your own intellect, dont beleive in such false pretenses. Jazz and music is wider and healtier as it's ever been, and if you can't see it, then you're at fault, the new generations are transcending jazz for ever more, making it more accessible yet no less interesting and still pionneering. Brad is one of many, and there's kids half his age already taking the banner up to the universal front, open your eyes, open your ears, jazz is too beautifull and immortal for the "its was better before" routine.
Certainly never been a greater jazz improv than this. Stunning. Actually it is almost like has a genre all of his own. A fusion of of the most insane modulations, rhythms, harmonies, counterpoint you will ever hear.
Je l'ai découvert hier 16 septembre en écoutant TSF Jazz sur le 90.8 FM à Hyères Les Palmiers.... Du miel pour les oreilles... Un pur bonheur avant d'aller dîner chez des amis...
Brad's intellectual approach isn't for everyone. Everything seems so well thought out. Here once again like the old be-boppers he deconstructs the song inside out, upside down, forwards and backwards. Unlike the be-boppers he really never loses sight of the melody while taking an orchestral approach. Always interesting, sometimes exciting, sometimes exhausting. Perhaps the preeminent pianist today.
What an amazing comment/explanation! I Couldn't agree more, actually thanks for putting all this into words. Mehldau really tells stories within stories based on different variations of the same melody, from different angles, corners, perspectives and flavours... You can see he was trained as a classical pianist though, always in control, a modern version of Evans, with less melodical approach but at harmonic level still outstanding..........this is one of the nicest versions of his version of "My faviourte things"
I agree 100% What's funny though is how he has been quoted as saying he doesn't like Evans' playing and how he thinks perhaps Bill is overrated. I don't see how since Bill's use of alternating waltz with other time signatures combined with original harmonic choices changed jazz pianism. Listening to Brad one hears a direct lineage, and clearly he has listened intently to Bill over the years.
Excellent points Hel Gar. From my transcriptions of Brad I think he's mostly influenced by Evans in how he uses harmonically ambiguous voicings, besides that I usually hear McCoy Tyner, the great classical & romantic period composers, Brecker, Trane and Herbie Hancock. Personally, I love Mehldau's deconstructive approach to improvisation which you identified, I've been trying to bring his concept into my playing recently. Do you play an instrument?
Stylistically, I think Evans and Mehldau are quite different. But I think what both these pianists achieve more than other jazz pianists is the emotional depth of their playing. Especially the melancholy aspect.
I haven't heard a piece of music this incredibly beautiful in a long time. Truly a work of art. If i were a dance teacher I would have my most advanced students dance a routine to this arrangement.
An absolute genius rendition. Have been listening to it in a loop for a few days now and continue to discover more and more! Thanks so much for sharing!!!
You are welcome! I love this piece so much and it's sad it got deleted form RU-vid. I'm looking for a transcription or something to play it for piano, but it seems impossible, maybe i'll have to try make my own, but that's even harder :-(
Miguel upv "My Favorite Thing" is a standard written by Richard Rodgers for the 1959 musical "The Sound of Music." The score is easy to find, for instance in "The Real Book" Volume I. Of course what Mehldau does with it is something else entirely. In my opinion a transcription of his improvisation wouldn't make much sense. It would be very time-consuming to transcribe, would take up a lot of paper, and in the end would be too difficult to play for most pianists...
Brad, you bring a different level purity to this world. Thank you. Your ad-lib just comforted two men in their 30's hanging on the rough edges of a March Friday.
They did a duet together recently and Brad has said that he has become a fan of Tigran's music which is really cool considering they're the two most innovative jazz pianists (and musical geniuses) on the planet.
When I listen to this, I can't help but hear James Brown's "It's a Man's World" in those sweet melodic parts. Mehldau's a virtuoso, and I know he can explore the hell out of a piece, but I love when he brings out the sweet. The buildup from the search he begins at 6:00 comes to a beautiful culmination at 6:50 and in comes that wonderful melody again. Loving the fact he sticks with the sweet and guides us home. A beautiful work of art.
After listening to the Marciac version, can definitely state that this is the superior version IMO. There's something about the dissonance and delayed gratification that just makes this one hit harder.
