His classical roots can be heard well in his extremely refined piano playing. Pianist Brad Mehldau, born in Florida, starts with, like many others, a classical piano education before he makes the change to jazz. He gains a lot of experience as sideman in the bands of Jimmy Cobb, Cecil Payne and Joshua Redman. His solo-career takes off with the signing of a contract with Warner Music, and within a short time releases a beautiful collection of albums with his trio. The series The Art of the Trio - Volume 1-5, recorded in the American jazz club The Village Vanguard among other places, could be marked as his big break-through. The talented jazz pianist is praised sky-high by jazz critics and call this fan of pianist Bill Evans 'jazz artist of the year' and 'best newcomer', while his albums are noted high on the lists of the year. But the impressions of cities he visited during tours, captured in musical form, show how beautiful the jazz made by Mehldau really is. Places gets wonderful reviews. Again he impresses with his last completed CD Largo, on which he proves to be a very dynamic pianist who knows how to create tension, does not shy from the experiment and is able to create tasteful, sometimes dreamy melodies. For the first time he will not be playing with his trio, but with a bigger strength.
