Brad Mehldau (Jacksonville, Florida) belongs to the select group of pianists that perform in the premier league of modern creative jazz and have exhilarated many listeners with their albums. As a sideman Mehldau accompanied musicians like Jimmy Cobb, Cecil Payne and Joshua Redman. In the decade that followed he recorded a series of trio-recordings with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, who continued his career as a pianist last year. Mehldau found a new drummer in Jeff Ballard. On his latest CD Day is Done, named after a song by Nick Drake, the jazz pianist tries to sublimate all the information he has gathered over the years, in a subtle, appropriate way in his improvisations. On various levels he deconstructs pop covers and jazz standards, in order to mold them into completely new pieces. It’s a search for perfection everyone should listen to.
