Live in Tokyo

Brad Mehldau | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 14, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B0002M5TCU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,724 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars variety show, January 15, 2005

By 

ADB (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live in Tokyo (Audio CD)

The funniest moment in this exciting live recording comes during "Monk's Dream," when Mehldau abruptly quotes Vince Guaraldi's "Linus and Lucy" and begins playing around with that famous and delightful motif, eventually metamorphosing it back into Monk's classic tune. The pairing of these two jazz composers really works for me, as there is a fresh, child-like quality that pervades the work of both. Mehldau's development, though, is extremely thick and complex. Arguably, this material might have been better served by a more spare approach (which is not to say simplistic, as Monk is anything but). Then again, this resembles the maximalist way Coltrane tended to approach Monk's music.

Gershwin's "Someone to Watch over Me" has long served as a vehicle for solo piano improvisations. It was a particular favorite of Art Tatum, who threw down the gauntlet to posterity with his virtuoso wizardy. Oscar Peterson recorded a superb version in 1968, and it has been tackled more recently by such luminaries as McCoy Tyner (1988), Chick Corea (1993), Keith Jarrett (1999), and Benny Green (2001). Despite all this competition and historical baggage, Mehldau's version is both original and convincingly fresh. His only new composition here is a beautiful "Intro" to this song, setting the stage for a lyrical approach rather than the more typical Tatum-esque workout. The song builds expansively to a long passage that shows, as did certain parts of _Elegiac Cycle_, Mehldau's occasional stylistic affinities with minimalism.

Mehldau then deconstructs Cole Porter's "From This Moment On." Interesting and impressive, but I'm ready to put Ella on now.

A sprawling twenty-minute version of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" is the centerpiece of the album. Personally, this has less charm and appeal for me than did the earlier and far more compact studio recordings of Radiohead songs: "Exit Music (for a Film)" and "Everything in Its Right Place."

Then, in another unlikely juxtaposition, it's back to Gershwin--this time, "How Long Has This Been Going On?" Well, quite a while at this point. My (perhaps somewhat old-fashioned) ear is now ready for a good, familiar tune, and Mehldau delivers, with a slinky, funky, slow-drag performance (weaving in some "Ol' Man River" for good measure). Beautifully done.

In addition to the Radiohead epic, the program opens and closes with haunting songs by Nick Drake. Mehldau has certainly piqued my interest in this cult figure, for he was clearly a songwriter of unusual gifts. I really applaud Mehldau's willingness to use such material as vehicles for jazz improvisation (and his overall eclecticism), because the so-called standards of yesteryear were fresh as daisies when jazzmen like Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, Lester Young, Benny Goodman, etc. first began recording them in the early thirties.

This isn't my favorite Mehldau recording, but it's an important and welcome addition to his growing catalog and further evidence in support of the claim that he's the most exciting and titanically creative jazz pianist to have emerged since Keith Jarrett.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tight-rope walker extraordinaire..., September 24, 2004

By 

Peter Dick (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Live in Tokyo (Audio CD)

This live concert performance is genius of a high order. For those familiar with the improvised solo piano concerts of Keith Jarrett, this is perhaps the "next step". While treating existing tunes during this concert, it must be stressed that each tune is merely a "jumping off point" for something truly spontaneous. I consider it as wholly improvised as the Jarrett concerts where there is no "tune" treatment at all. What is astounding, even to those already familiar with Mehldau's brilliance, is the risk-taking at every turn. This music is courageous, original, organic, and exquisitely beautiful...Mehldau is a "spontaneous composer" who makes full use of the dynamic/touch qualities of the piano as a compositional device. The piano is an orchestra, and man does he ever orchestrate! He's walking the tightrope, and there's no safety net - miraculously, he never needs one.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great disc--almost as good as the real thing., November 7, 2004

By 

Edward Batista (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Live in Tokyo (Audio CD)

My wife and I saw Brad Mehldau a few weeks ago as part of the San Francisco Jazz Festival. He was playing solo, possibly touring to support this "Live in Tokyo" CD. We'd never seen him perform, but we've been listening to his stuff for the past few years, particularly the "Art of the Trio" series. The show was phenomenal--he'd play a few songs, then take a minute to talk to the audience, describing what he'd just played and what he was about to play. At the end of one such break, he said something like, "Well, I guess I should play something off my new album, 'Live in Tokyo.' Here's 'Paranoid Android.'" My wife knows I'm a big Radiohead fan, and she turned to me wide-eyed. I had read somewhere that Mehldau had been performing Radiohead songs, but I'd never heard them. It was astonishing. He captured the original's power and emotion, but took in some totally unexpected directions as well. Since he's starting with better source material, it's not quite as neat a trick as John Coltrane making great art out of "My Favorite Things," but it's pretty damn close. Based on that one song, I bought "Live in Tokyo," and it's excellent, if not quite at the level of what we heard in person. The disc's version of "Paranoid Android" seems a little tamer, but that may be just because it's not as fresh or surprising to me now. On the whole, a really satisfying listen--thoughtful, emotional, smart but not smug. Well worth buying, and if you ever get a chance to see him play in person, don't hesitate to go.