Art of the Trio Vol. 1 by Brad Mehldau

Personnel: Brad Mehldau (piano); Larry Grenadier (bass); Jorge Rossy (drums). Recorded at Mad Hatter Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California on September 4-5, 1996. Includes a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. "Blame It On My Youth" was nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo. Brad Mehldau's interaction with his trio was always as important an element of his '90s work as his own harmonic adventurousness. The first volume of ART OF THE TRIO puts the symbiotic relationship between Mehldau, drummer Jorge Rossy, and bassist Larry Grenadier under a microscope. The inner workings of this organism are as astonishing as they are inspirational. While Mehldau retains his delicate touch and Debussy-via-Bill Evans harmonic approach, his romanticism is less dewy-eyed here. His version of "Blame it on My Youth" (he would later acknowledge the influence of Chet Baker's take on this tune) is full of pointed, precisely executed runs that stand in sharp contrast to the composition's potential for ro... Minimize