![]() ![]() One thing he likes to do is what you call in classical music - maybe you'd call it a pedal point. MEHLDAU: Well, it's not on the record, but it always comes to mind, you know, maybe because everybody knows it, but just what he does with "Blackbird," which I've played a lot over the years. And so - yeah, definitely both of those things.īRIGER: Can you give us an example of what you mean by his harmonies? So I think of Paul also really as a very subtle harmonist. MEHLDAU: I think very strong melodies but kind of to make a weird comparison, what I get from Schubert is these simple melodies under - with this harmony under it that's so beautiful. Do you think that's why you like those songs? You slightly favor Paul McCartney songs in this album, and I think Paul McCartney is known for writing very strong melodies. I was always curious how that went.īRIGER: Yeah. So somebody covered "Revolution 9" somehow. So everybody played - everybody picked different tunes. They - what they did was they programmed a series of concerts with various artists, and they played the whole Beatles repertoire. So I thought, well, this would be something exciting to jump into. ![]() MEHLDAU: I was a little apprehensive at first, but I had a lot of time on my hands because it was just kind of right in the middle of the lockdown. ![]() Well, Brad Mehldau, welcome to FRESH AIR.īRIGER: So in 2018, you had done a concert of Bach for a concert hall in Paris, and they asked you to come back for 2020, but they wanted you to do just the Beatles songs. Mehldau also has a memoir coming out this March called "Formation: Building A Personal Canon, Part One," which recounts a difficult childhood and his development as an artist. He's very busy touring, so we were lucky to get some time with him while he was in New York doing a week of gigs at the Village Vanguard, the historic jazz club. On his 2018 album called "After Bach," he plays pieces from Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier," as well as his own compositions inspired by them. Mehldau's most common musical platform has been his trio, but he's recorded many solo albums and collaborated with musicians such as Josh Redman, Pat Metheny and Chris Thile, just to name a few. The album is called "Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles." It was recorded live in Paris in 2020. Looking back at his dozens of albums, Beatles songs are peppered throughout, like "Blackbird," "Martha My Dear," "She's Leaving Home" and others.īut now, for the first time, Mehldau has a record of all Beatles songs - well, except for maybe a David Bowie tune snuck in at the end. In particular, he's had a long relationship with the music of the Beatles. His many recordings feature a wide range of jazz and American popular song standards, but he's also known to interpret music that lies outside the typical jazz catalogue, playing songs by Radiohead, Nirvana, Nick Drake and Pink Floyd. A recent talk of the town item in The New Yorker said that he is, quote, "arguably the greatest working jazz pianist top five, for sure," unquote. SAM BRIGER, BYLINE: Brad Mehldau is one of the most influential and acclaimed jazz pianists living today. He spoke with FRESH AIR producer Sam Briger. Brad Mehldau went to the WNYC studios in New York to sit down at their piano for an interview and some music. We play a lot of music by jazz pianist Brad Mehldau on our show in the breaks and at the end of the show. ![]()
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