Track listing
Show track credits
- 1 It Might as Well Be Spring 7:46
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bass
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drums
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songwriter
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songwriter
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- 2 Countdown 4:12
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bass
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drums
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songwriter
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- 3 My Romance 6:25
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bass
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drums
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songwriter
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songwriter
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- 4 Angst 6:12
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songwriter
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bass
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drums
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- 5 Young Werther 7:14
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songwriter
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bass
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drums
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- 6 Prelude to a Kiss 10:01
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bass
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drums
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songwriter
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- 7 London Blues 7:02
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songwriter
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bass
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drums
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- 8 From This Moment On 6:34
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bass
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drums
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songwriter
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- 9 Say Goodbye 9:25
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songwriter
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bass
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drums
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- Total length: 64:51
Rate/Catalog
Catalog
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Review
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2 Issues
2 Reviews
What kind of things will you find on Mehldau's trio debut? Most of his trademark playing style is already solidly intact; he's got a rich, fluid classical approach to jazz standards, and the only thing lacking is the 'left hand vs. right hand counterpoint' stuff he would develop a little later. There's also no 'modern jazz updates' on popular songs yet, so no Radiohead, Paul Simon or Nick Drake covers. The repertoire (as well as the piano-bass-drums trio format) is actually quite conventional, and that accounts for the slightly lower rating - all of the non-Mehldau originals have been done to death by this point! Sure, Mehldau can find a few new things to say once he stops dancing around the melody line and it can even be brilliant sometimes (the 7/8 groove in "It Might as Well Be Spring" starts things off at a nice brisk pace and Mehldau has no problems keeping the ideas flowing, and man does he have the Coltrane changes locked down in "Countdown"), but the other standards are not widely inventive. Ellington, Cole Porter, Coltrane, Rogers/Hart, and Rodgers/Hammerstein compositions take up more than half the record leaving four original tunes, only one of which really stands out at all - "London Blues", which has some unusual harmonies and excellent unison off-beat hits which make this one a solid post-bop composition.
I guess the biggest disappointment is that Mehldau's trio is always in a support role, at least on this session. And the second half of the record is Brad with the legendary Christian McBride and Brian Blade, and they just dutifully follow Mehldau like Grenadier and Rossy do earlier on the record, rather than challenge or move further out of the form, like I'd prefer (and they got better at this later on). Actually, they do screw around a bit with "From This Moment On", but that's the major exception. If you're looking for Mehldau to get more wild and crazy this isn't the place to look, and he's not that kind of piano player anyway, but his style is lovely and already quite refined, making this a decent addition to any jazz catalog.
I guess the biggest disappointment is that Mehldau's trio is always in a support role, at least on this session. And the second half of the record is Brad with the legendary Christian McBride and Brian Blade, and they just dutifully follow Mehldau like Grenadier and Rossy do earlier on the record, rather than challenge or move further out of the form, like I'd prefer (and they got better at this later on). Actually, they do screw around a bit with "From This Moment On", but that's the major exception. If you're looking for Mehldau to get more wild and crazy this isn't the place to look, and he's not that kind of piano player anyway, but his style is lovely and already quite refined, making this a decent addition to any jazz catalog.
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