New York, NY (Top40 Charts) When Brad Mehldau and his Trio - Felix Moseholm on bass and Jorge Rossy on drums - performed at the Nancy Opera in France for the Nancy Jazz Pulsations festival this past October, ARTE was there to capture the concert. You can now watch it all here till April 6, 2025:
"Brad Mehldau is without a doubt one of the most influential jazz pianists of recent decades," ARTE says in translation from the French. "What sets him apart is not only his sophisticated borrowings from pop or classical music. What makes Brad Mehldau truly unique is his playing, constantly constructed in contrapuntal mode, where his hands engage in intimate dialogues or engage in passionate exchanges. By integrating the art of fugue into improvisation, the American pianist perpetuates the musical legacy of Bach, a tutelary figure frequently mentioned by the artist."
Speaking of Bach, Mehldau released two new albums on Nonesuch this year: After Bach II and Après Fauré. The Bach album comprises four preludes and one fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier, as well as the Allemande from the fourth Partita, interspersed with seven compositions or improvisations by Mehldau inspired by the complementary works of Bach—including Mehldau's Variations on Bach's Goldberg Theme. On Après Fauré, Mehldau performs four nocturnes, from a thirty-seven-year span of Gabriel Fauré's career, as well as a reduction of an excerpt from the Adagio movement of his Piano Quartet in G Minor. Here Mehldau's four compositions that Fauré inspired are presented in a group, bookended by two sections featuring the French composer's works.