- Audio CD (Feb 24 2004)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Warner Bros
- ASIN: B00017HWAI
- Other Editions: Audio CD
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #42,879 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product Details |
Track Listings
| 1. Get Happy |
| 2. Dreamsville |
| 3. Anything Goes |
| 4. Tres Palabras |
| 5. Skippy |
| 6. Nearness of You |
| 7. Still Crazy After All These Years |
| 8. Everything in Its Right Place |
| 9. Smile |
| 10. I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
Pianist Brad Mehldau's so-so excursion into atmospheric pop production, Largo, may be proving to be a worthwhile experiment after all. Having gotten that out of his system, at least for the moment, he sounds looser in the pocket than he has in a long time in returning to the ruminative piano trio format with which he made his reputation. In applying some of his quirkiest personal touches to jazz and pop standards, he also sounds--no offense intended--more awake. Hooking up with his longstanding rhythm mates, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Jorge Rossy, Mehldau offsets his patented lyrical touches with antic minimalist strokes, bold vamps, and high-stepping two-hand strategies. Alternately spiky and seductive, his unaccompanied playing on an initially languid "Get Happy" is a winning case of the left hand pretending not to know what the right hand is doing. Reharmonizing Charles Chaplin's "Smile" with dense harmonic clouds, he properly obliterates that hoary melody. There's another sighing Radiohead treatment, "Everything in its Right Place," and an attempt at enlivening Paul Simon's "Still Crazy (After All These Years)," but it's his happy time with Thelonious Monk's "Skippy" that tells us his best may be yet to come. --Lloyd Sachs
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
above the average
July 18 2004
Format:Audio CD
I've listened to Brad Mehldau since his debut (+saw him twice in concert, one was great(1997), the other (2000) was uneven, rather disappointing) but I must say that the pianist is above the average.
First, he's found his own style (of course his influences go from European classic music -Schubert, Schumann, Chopin- to modern jazz -he rightly denied the influence of Bill Evans in his volume 4, but for the mise en place of the trio, there's no way. As far as the melody goes, he would be closer to a Keith Jarrett than a Bill Evans-. But let's not fuss about it. The point is that the talent(?) of a pianist is when we can recognize him. We can recognize Brad Mehldau. Brad plays Mehldau. After that, should we love or not love what he does, it's a mere question of personal taste and... culture. To really appreciate, one has to get a somewhat consistent knowledge on, say, piano jazz or piano trios. Of course taste is subjective. Quite. But when one is interested in jazz and Brad Mehldau, and should he say he/she doesn't know Earl Hines, Fats Waller, The Amazing Bud Powell, Money Jungle by Duke Ellington, Waltz for Debby by Bill Evans, Solo Monk, Scratch by Kenny Barron, Upon Reflection by Hank Jones, etc... if so, I think one cannot fully and truely appreciate this recording by Brad Mehldau. Besides having this "culture" helps one from being addicted to only one artist. I listen to many jazz artists (all kind of blues, avant guarde, classic, fusion, bop, etc...) and I'm not focussing on one expecially.
With Anything Goes, we find some of the most interesting (some surprises) performances of the artist. Detours, empathy with the other musicians. It's not transcendent, but it's worth listening once in a while.
First, he's found his own style (of course his influences go from European classic music -Schubert, Schumann, Chopin- to modern jazz -he rightly denied the influence of Bill Evans in his volume 4, but for the mise en place of the trio, there's no way. As far as the melody goes, he would be closer to a Keith Jarrett than a Bill Evans-. But let's not fuss about it. The point is that the talent(?) of a pianist is when we can recognize him. We can recognize Brad Mehldau. Brad plays Mehldau. After that, should we love or not love what he does, it's a mere question of personal taste and... culture. To really appreciate, one has to get a somewhat consistent knowledge on, say, piano jazz or piano trios. Of course taste is subjective. Quite. But when one is interested in jazz and Brad Mehldau, and should he say he/she doesn't know Earl Hines, Fats Waller, The Amazing Bud Powell, Money Jungle by Duke Ellington, Waltz for Debby by Bill Evans, Solo Monk, Scratch by Kenny Barron, Upon Reflection by Hank Jones, etc... if so, I think one cannot fully and truely appreciate this recording by Brad Mehldau. Besides having this "culture" helps one from being addicted to only one artist. I listen to many jazz artists (all kind of blues, avant guarde, classic, fusion, bop, etc...) and I'm not focussing on one expecially.
With Anything Goes, we find some of the most interesting (some surprises) performances of the artist. Detours, empathy with the other musicians. It's not transcendent, but it's worth listening once in a while.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
This is what happens when the deaf listen to music
July 4 2004
Format:Audio CD
They say everyone has a right to their opinion, and that there's no accounting for taste, but when the reasons given for said person's opinion are so misleading, I have to do like the reviewer from Brooklyn and write a response. Which brings me to the point.
The reviewer who called this straight-ahead traditional piano music, nothing new or different, and said the bassist and drummer are merely competent and don't do anything overtly interesting, has got to be kidding! Either he's deaf or he has really poor listening skills. No one's saying you have to like this record, but both of these criticisms are completely ridiculous. That is all. Happy shopping!
Very good performance
April 5 2010
Format:Audio CD
Held one's attention throughout the performance of several pieces on this CD. Brad Mehldau is one of the leading pianists in jazz today and on this CD he fronts a tight group. A very pleasant listening experience.
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Most recent customer reviews
A GREAT group
I don't know where this guy gets off saying that the drummer, Jorge Rossy, and the bassist, Larry Grenadier, "are competent but do nothing overtly interesting". Read more
Published on Jun 22 2004
on the two hundredth listening
I am amending my previous review.
I think Mehldau is clearly the best piano player alive now. I think this CD is clearly a big improvement over recent efforts like... Read more
Published on Jun 18 2004 by rash67
very good piano trio
the music on this album is very good and very pleasant, brad is much better here than on Largo and don't say it's boring!
Published on May 30 2004
Kinda Boring...
I made the typical mistake of buying this CD based on reviews and hype. First, the pace of the music is mid-tempo to slow most of the time. Read more
Published on May 10 2004 by Paul Oberlin
Better Than Largo
This is an excellent recording in keeping with the Mehldau Trio's previous work, such as Progression, Places, Introducing..., and Elegiac Cycles. Read more
Published on April 14 2004 by Flounder
Brad; stop recording and start woodshedding
I'm sure this will come across as cranky but this CD is almost as disappointing as Largo. For me, Brad stopped doing recordings of interest after Art of the Trio 3. Read more
Published on April 5 2004
Linear Progression
This latest in what's becoming a long line of amzing albums from Brad Mehldau can be challange, though a challenge that ultimately pays off for the listener. But be warned. Read more
Published on April 2 2004 by Thomas C. Zink
Full steam ahead
Nothing new here- just Mehldau and the trio doing what they do best- inventive, sexy, cerebral, aggessive, playful, tender and consistently virtuosic renditions of songs. Read more
Published on Mar 25 2004
bi-polar
It really hard to write about the latest Brad Mehldau. I have listened and thought about this for a long time (it did not instantly grab me). Well, it's new and it's different. Read more
Published on Mar 9 2004 by rash67
Standards of excellence
Yes, anything does go here, but not in the way you might think. I was prepared for a postmodern, deconstructionist approach, where standards are mercilessly torn apart and then... Read more
Published on Mar 9 2004 by Jan P. Dennis
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