Customer Reviews

Live in Tokyo

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Brad Mehldau's first live solo album (I believe it is his second piano solo album after Elegiac Cycle) is quite impressive. The selection of the tunes is eclectic and non-conformist. He opens and ends with a Nick Drake tune (which I don't know) and he plays a Radiohead song as well. His exploring different tunes is not new. On his art of trio, vol.1, he was alreading goign away from standards by playing the beatles's blackbird. But lennon/mccartney songs are not that differently structured from a rodgers/hammerstein.

Anyhow, I quite enjoyed the texture of Paranoid Android, even though it runs 20mn. The song I like the most is monk's dream. I heard it on the radio, and it got me to buy this cd. It starts as monk's dream the jazz tune, but then it gets out of hand into Liszt-like virtuosity, way over there, before landing smoothly. Cole Porter and Gershwin's songs complete the album, and their familiarity is comforting, especially since the structure of the album alternates the stuff that pushes the envelope with the more traditional stuff.

Brad Mehldau first came to my attention with his percussive yet lyrical take on Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" on his album "Largo." I thought it was stunning, ambitious, and fresh. It gave me new respect for this song from Radiohead's 90s masterpiece "OK Computer"; "Paranoid Android" is a tripartate "Day in the Life" for a sadder wiser time more than 30 years after the Beatles disbanded.

Here Mehldau's breakthrough piece is expanded to 20 minutes in a live format uinaccompanied by his trio. It still has riveting moments, but is less impressive than his version on "Largo." There is plenty here to make up for that.

Nick Drake, a 60s/70s folkie rediscovered recently through a Volkswagon commercial which featured his hypnotic "Pink Moon," gets the Mehldau treatment twice. Drake's already jazzy "Riverman" is expanded on, deconstructed, explored. His mysterious "Things behind the Sun" opens the album nicely.

Mehdlau's idiosyncrasies seem under control at first but increase as the album proceeds like a fidgeting child still for only for a few minutes at a time. This is just fine as the quirky jazz pianist covers another quirky jazz pianist: Thelonious Monk. Jazz standards are another strength of Mehldau's since they need his strange flourishes and dense pounding chords to attain new life.

THe choices of Monk, Gershwin, Drake, and Radiohead continue to Mehldau tradition of being a liason between traditional and avant-garde jazz. This live album, with its enthusiatic Japanese audience, requires patience with its long meanderings, which are sometimes too far from the melody he's interpreting and just generally overlong. My four-star review is to say: There's more here interesting than distracting.

I could see a reviewer giving this CD 4 stars, if only because of the sprawling "epicness" of it, which could verge on self-indulgence. I'll take those things to be good, though, and give him 5 stars. This CD is very reminiscent of several of Keith Jarrett's CDs, both his solo concerts and work with his trio. The use of such diverse sources for his material puts Mehldau in very safe and risky territories from track to track, but he then ventures into such ambitious places with all of them that he rarely seems to be "safe." While some would argue the validity of a 20-minute rambling take on a Radiohead tune, I commend him for his use of "non-standard" material for his improvisations. Mehldau has released additional tracks on ITunes, all of which I have purchased, and a couple of those appear on his next CD, DAY IS DONE. The "extended" version of the concert is even more impressive. You can't argue Mehldau's technique (or I wouldn't), ambition, vision, variety, perspective, etc. I loved the ride and listen on a fairly regular basis. I am always curious to hear what he is doing on his next release, and I haven't been disappointed yet.

I was in the record store the other day and I was trying to find a record that was fresh and new. My first attempt was Chris Potter. Too bad I have too much of him already. I then thought of Brad Mehldau and gave "Live In Tokyo" a listen. All I can say is, someone has been listening to Keith Jarrett's "The Koln Concert." Seems to be a heavy influence on this record. It's not that I don't think he's always been influenced by Jarrett, but the fact that it's Mehlday doing solo piano, it's definitely more apparent. The mixture of tunes on the CD is interesting, but a good choice. I do have to say, however, his take on Radiohead's Paranoid Android takes the cake. It's the best track on the CD and in my opinion, his best recorded "Paranoid Android" yet. The expressiveness the man brings to the instrument is truly impressive. Also listen to his takes on "Monk's Dream" as well as Porter's "From This Moment On."

This CD is my first exposure to the art of Brad Mehldau, and a most impressive artist he is. It's not just the fistfuls and cascades of notes that issue from his fingers, as breathtaking as his virtuosity can be. As with all great jazz artists the beat is ever-present in his playing, even with the fewest notes and at the slowest tempi--the Gershwin standards are wonderful examples of this and perhaps the most appealing tracks on the disc. Elsewhere he elaborates on Nick Drake, Thelonius Monk and Radiohead to always fascinating if sometimes overlong results (the Paranoid Android track lasts almost twenty minutes). A bit of Philip Glass or other minimalist flavor occasionally creeps in with his obsessive dwelling on a single pitch for long stretches--whether you'll respond to that depends on how well you like such things. Still, there aren't many jazz pianists around, I would guess, who can sustain such a concert as this. Definitely worth a listen.

I happened across this CD as part of Windows Media Player's samplers and listened to it online. I'd never heard of Brad Mehldau before, and was quickly impressed with his lush treatments of some jazz standards. It was also quite impressive how he seemlessly melded from one song to the next without interruption, even when the song stylings were starkly contrasted.

Then I heard something that simply floored me. At the end of "Monk's Dream", I heard him transition into something that reminded me of my favorite Radiohead song, "Paranoid Android". I thought to myself, "No, it couldn't be. Could it?" Sure enough, he went from jazz standard into a truly inspired rendition of an experimental rock song. At times, it sounded like he was playing with 4 hands as he filled the music out masterfully. I was truly floored and listened to the 15 minute song over and over.

The rest of the CD was enjoyable, but there was something about this unusual song choice that really stood out. For jazz purists, it may be too harsh of a contrast. I find myself enjoying a wide range of music, and absolutely loved what I heard. Definitely worth a listen!

If you're a fan of the single-disc version of _Live in Tokyo_, then you'll definitely want this. (I was originally told that the two-disc version was unavailable, but persistence paid off, and I had no trouble getting it the second time around.) In fact, I no longer listen to my single disc, since this strikes me as so much more satisfying. It has the feel of a full-blown recital, and even if the track order here isn't true to the original performance (I'd like to think it is, but who really knows?), the pacing is just right. For example, "Alfie" sounds wonderful coming as it does between "From This Moment On" and "Monk's Dream" (on disc two)--and the performance itself is exquisite, some of the most deeply-felt music of the two discs in my opinion. The "new" tracks sit comfortably with the "old," and it's also nice to hear some of Mehldau's original compositions in this context. The titles "C Tune" and "Waltz Tune" might suggest casually-produced music, but these are complete--as well as notably focused--performances. "My Heart Stood Still" is currently one of my favourite tracks, and while Mehldau's solo version of "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" doesn't have the sly slinkiness of the trio version (the tempo here is unusually slow, even stately), I admire his desire to experiment.

This might be an overly subjective point, but listening to these two discs in their entirety always makes me think of Monk's solo performances, especially _Thelonious Himself_ (on Riverside). There's gravitas here, but with an equal measure of reflective soulfulness, and at times even a kind of sardonic wit.

Again, if you're a fan of the single-disc version of this concert, don't hesitate to get this.