Songs: The Art of the Trio, Vol. 3

Brad Mehldau

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 15, 1998)
• Original Release Date: September 15, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B00000AG8T
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #57,265 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com's Best of 1998
Art of the Trio Volume 3 was easily the finest rainy-day album of 1998. Moody, pensive, and hopelessly romantic, Brad Mehldau's fifth album as a leader staked out a deeply personal, strikingly handsome territory. Aided by sympathetic playing from bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, Art of the Trio may not be the most exciting jazz album of the year, but it is certainly the most gorgeous. Mehldau's take on Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" is offered with as much feeling as his cover of Nick Drake's "River Man," and both show the range of his influences. --S. Duda

Amazon.com essential recording
Pianist Brad Mehldau is best known for the moody storms that blow quiet and dark over his work. He's also no slouch when it comes to interpreting standards and penning originals marked by an eloquent, whisper-fine touch and an extra helping of emotion. On his fourth LP, Mehldau is again aided by his sympathetic and strong trio (drummer Jorge Rossy and bassist Larry Grenadier) for an outing that is delicate in its approach yet powerful in its result. Mehldau sometimes sounds like a classical musician out for a spot of jazz and to its credit, his rhythm section allows him to mine these rich, thoroughly pleasing veins. Art of the Trio, Vol. 3 will certainly evoke thoughts of Bill Evans, but covers of songs by Radiohead, Nick Drake, Rodgers, and Hart alongside five strong originals stamp this as a strong album by one of our finest pianists. --S. Duda

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soulful, humble, and brilliant, September 29, 2002

By A Customer

I am a classically trained musician. I went to an excellent music school that also had one of the best jazz programs in the nation, run by Jackie McLean. I heard some good jazz while I was there. But frankly the old classical musician's put-down, saying that something was "good enough for jazz," more often than not rang true for me. There didn't seem to be a truly sophisticated and solid grounding in structure and harmony in most jazz that I heard. The premium was on improvisation, to the seeming detriment of coherence. Jazz seemed more amorphous and haphazard than not.

But Brad Mehldau was a complete revelation for me. Structure and improvisation, freedom and discipline all coexisting together, all combining into an unbelievable organic whole that simply must be experienced to be fully appreciated. This is music making at its highest. Listening to Brad Mehldau for me is like listening to what Bach might have done if he had been a jazz musician. Brad plays from his heart and his soul, and yet his playing always has an overarching structure that is so subtly rendered that it simply blends into the whole, with seemingly no effort.

And don't buy any of that B.S from other reviewers about him being a prima donna. I just met the man in person last night in San Francisco and I can tell you for a fact that he is about as decent, humble, and nice a person as you could ever want in a good friend, let alone one of the greatest musicians on the planet.

Get this CD, listen to it, and let it fill you heart and soul with truth, love, and possibility.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What color is the sky in your universe, Perth?, September 14, 1999

By A Customer

Woe unto Perth for single-handedly lowering this magnificent album's rating to four measley stars. It is doubly unfortunate because the first purchase of an artist for most people tends not to be something entitled "Volume 3." So here you have a tremendously lyrical, imaginative, melodic album with covers of everyone from Hart to Radiohead, and some people are not going to buy it because it "only" has 4 stars and because it's not Volume 1. Instead, they will opt for something like Elegiac Cycles which, while great, leaves one thinking that Brad is in dire need of Prozac. Fully spent from listening to it, they may not want to buy another Mehldau album for some time. What a shame, because there can be no better introduction to this incredibly gifted artist than Art of the Song.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magic Mehldau- an uncanny virtuoso, July 8, 2000

By A Customer

If you haven't heard of Brad Mehldau yet, this recording will certainly convince you that he is far more then a passing fancy. This pianist posseses incredible technical skills, but he manages to always let feeling prevail. This is not your average jazz trio either, bassist Larry Genadier and drummer Jorge Rossy supply him with different textures,and rhythms that are swinging and intellectual all at once. This trio is groundbreaking and I am sure will be looked back upon as trendsetters years from now.My favorite track on this Album is Mehldau's original "Unrequited", (of which he recently recorded another breathtaking version with Portuguese lyrics on his -Art of the duo- recording "Close Enough for Love" with vocalist Fleurine on Verve) which clearly demonstrates this approach. But there are some great treatments of standards on this one aswell.If you are getting your first Mehldau album this is a great way to start, it is more laid back then his two (fantastic!)'Live at the Vanguard' recordings. One of the most exciting jazzalbums I've heard in a long time.