Brad Mehldau Ensemble: Jazz Concert Analysis
John Westbrook
Music 378
Jazz Performance
4/25/14
Brad Mehldau Trio
On April 17th, I was able to attend the Brad Mahldau Trio in the Loeb Playhouse, with two friends of whom I am in a band with. I was excited to see what this new experience could do to inspire us in a different way. Although I have seen guest speakers numerous times at Loeb Playhouse, this was my first musical show at this venue and I was extremely impressed. Brad Mahldau Trio is a trio outing with pianist Brad Mahldau, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Jorge Rossy. We made our way to our seats 15 minutes before the show was supposed to start, settling in to the back left side of the main floor. I was impressed by how well I could see the stage and instruments …show more content…
while still sitting about 75% of the way back in the venue. It seemed, by my conversations, all of the students sitting around me were just there to fulfill some part of their music class, notebooks in hand. To me, this was first and foremost a great experience, which just so happens to help me write a jazz review. The trio walked on stage a bit before 8:00 PM, gave a quick wave to the audience, and began playing immediately. I was surprised to see only two PA speakers on the stage, because the sound was incredible clear. The sound wasn’t loud by any means but because of the acoustics of the room and the respect of the audience it seemed as an acoustic show, other than the microphone attached to the upright bass playing out of a bass amp. The bass was the only instrument I felt should have been a notch higher in volume.
As they began their set, I first just wanted to take in their own unique styles being it was the first experience I have had with these musicians. Brad had his grand piano facing so he could look at the bassist and drummer by tilting his head to the right, but could look to the back of the stage while looking straight on rather than facing the crowd. I thought this was kind of cool, because most of the pianist I have seen do the opposite, to interact with the crowd. Larry, the bassist, seemed like the backbone for the interesting improvisation between the piano and drums. Jorge, the drummer, was my favorite spectacle of the band because of his unique style and he continued to switch up with the style of sticks he was using. He began with wire brushes and continued to switch out with normal solid drumstick and splashsticks. As a drummer myself, I was very impressed by how Jorge could playing with a splashstick in his right hand a wire brush in his left, to create this unique sound on the fly in the middle of a song.
The second song they played was a cover and in the jazz style most similar to Bebop.
It had an extreme tempo and really showed off their ability to stay tight as a group while leaving plenty room for improvising. It is hard to determine a specific jazz style for this group because each song seemed to showcase a differing jazz style. Something that really stuck out to me was this trio had no problem leaving space in their music. Some musicians feel they need to be continuously outdoing themselves and each other, playing notes for no reason (in my opinion). With Brad Mehldau this was not the case, each member is constantly listening for room the may be given to improvise, or listening for when they can allow another member to begin something new or exciting with this newfound space. This group also had phenomenal volume control because each member had extreme precision, helping them to make parts of the song more potent than others. The last thing I noticed was their ability to solo without any regards to the constraints of the specific tune they were playing. What I mean by that is, you could see and feel the trust in each other to allow each member to express their musical desires without having to step on each others toes. The first example of this was Jorge began a drum solo about midway through the show and it must have last ten minutes. He had many variations throughout the solo and there were many times where I thought they would go back into the original tune, but he pressed on. Near the end of the show, Brad Mehldau started a solo, beginning with a slow tempo, working his way into the mist of his idea. This solo was much longer than the drum solo and was very impressive, blowing me away numerous times throughout the improvising, and showcasing many different musical ideas. For those who didn’t attend, I would give my recommendation 100% for someone who has never seen Brad Mehldau Trio. It was a unique experience that broadened my musical
horizons and helped me to remember how much music can vary.
Medeski, Martin, and Wood can to my mind first as a historically similar band to Brad Mehldau Trio. Both bands are piano trios and the instrumentation is nearly identical other than the lack of an organ with Brad Mehldau. Both artists have been around for a similar amount of time, and have made a big impact in the jazz world. They do differ in the type of jazz they aim to play (MMW-Jazz/rock Fusion; Brad Mehldau Trio-Modern Jazz) but seem to be on the same page of improvising. It was interesting to see how different two piano trios could be, because I have seem MMW previous to seeing Brad Mehldau Trio. This concert was an eye-opening experience that I will remember for quite some time.
Music 378
Jazz Performance
4/25/14
Brad Mehldau Trio
On April 17th, I was able to attend the Brad Mahldau Trio in the Loeb Playhouse, with two friends of whom I am in a band with. I was excited to see what this new experience could do to inspire us in a different way. Although I have seen guest speakers numerous times at Loeb Playhouse, this was my first musical show at this venue and I was extremely impressed. Brad Mahldau Trio is a trio outing with pianist Brad Mahldau, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Jorge Rossy. We made our way to our seats 15 minutes before the show was supposed to start, settling in to the back left side of the main floor. I was impressed by how well I could see the stage and instruments …show more content…
while still sitting about 75% of the way back in the venue. It seemed, by my conversations, all of the students sitting around me were just there to fulfill some part of their music class, notebooks in hand. To me, this was first and foremost a great experience, which just so happens to help me write a jazz review. The trio walked on stage a bit before 8:00 PM, gave a quick wave to the audience, and began playing immediately. I was surprised to see only two PA speakers on the stage, because the sound was incredible clear. The sound wasn’t loud by any means but because of the acoustics of the room and the respect of the audience it seemed as an acoustic show, other than the microphone attached to the upright bass playing out of a bass amp. The bass was the only instrument I felt should have been a notch higher in volume.
As they began their set, I first just wanted to take in their own unique styles being it was the first experience I have had with these musicians. Brad had his grand piano facing so he could look at the bassist and drummer by tilting his head to the right, but could look to the back of the stage while looking straight on rather than facing the crowd. I thought this was kind of cool, because most of the pianist I have seen do the opposite, to interact with the crowd. Larry, the bassist, seemed like the backbone for the interesting improvisation between the piano and drums. Jorge, the drummer, was my favorite spectacle of the band because of his unique style and he continued to switch up with the style of sticks he was using. He began with wire brushes and continued to switch out with normal solid drumstick and splashsticks. As a drummer myself, I was very impressed by how Jorge could playing with a splashstick in his right hand a wire brush in his left, to create this unique sound on the fly in the middle of a song.
The second song they played was a cover and in the jazz style most similar to Bebop.
It had an extreme tempo and really showed off their ability to stay tight as a group while leaving plenty room for improvising. It is hard to determine a specific jazz style for this group because each song seemed to showcase a differing jazz style. Something that really stuck out to me was this trio had no problem leaving space in their music. Some musicians feel they need to be continuously outdoing themselves and each other, playing notes for no reason (in my opinion). With Brad Mehldau this was not the case, each member is constantly listening for room the may be given to improvise, or listening for when they can allow another member to begin something new or exciting with this newfound space. This group also had phenomenal volume control because each member had extreme precision, helping them to make parts of the song more potent than others. The last thing I noticed was their ability to solo without any regards to the constraints of the specific tune they were playing. What I mean by that is, you could see and feel the trust in each other to allow each member to express their musical desires without having to step on each others toes. The first example of this was Jorge began a drum solo about midway through the show and it must have last ten minutes. He had many variations throughout the solo and there were many times where I thought they would go back into the original tune, but he pressed on. Near the end of the show, Brad Mehldau started a solo, beginning with a slow tempo, working his way into the mist of his idea. This solo was much longer than the drum solo and was very impressive, blowing me away numerous times throughout the improvising, and showcasing many different musical ideas. For those who didn’t attend, I would give my recommendation 100% for someone who has never seen Brad Mehldau Trio. It was a unique experience that broadened my musical
horizons and helped me to remember how much music can vary.
Medeski, Martin, and Wood can to my mind first as a historically similar band to Brad Mehldau Trio. Both bands are piano trios and the instrumentation is nearly identical other than the lack of an organ with Brad Mehldau. Both artists have been around for a similar amount of time, and have made a big impact in the jazz world. They do differ in the type of jazz they aim to play (MMW-Jazz/rock Fusion; Brad Mehldau Trio-Modern Jazz) but seem to be on the same page of improvising. It was interesting to see how different two piano trios could be, because I have seem MMW previous to seeing Brad Mehldau Trio. This concert was an eye-opening experience that I will remember for quite some time.