Arts & Entertainment
 

Mehldau works on cure for sleepy jazz

Overdrugged music gets a booster shot from offbeat afficionado and two assistants

By Matthew Shepherd
The Daily Cougar

It's high time somebody liberated an emotionally disconnected genre from its medicated stupor. Anti-depressant-steeped muzak has provoked too many amateur copyright-infringement rants, induced too many claustrophobic, elevator frenzies and robbed too many would-be jazz aficionados of a future passion. Muzak has given jazz a bad name for long enough and Brad Mehldau simply won't tolerate it any longer, as is clear with his latest release of traditional jazz standards and contemporary pop songs, Anything Goes.

Who says a jazz rendition of a pop tune has to be a monotone, emotionless shadow of the original? Pianist Mehldau and his trio from New York certainly don't, as track after track, they fuse their interpretation of a song with its original feel, resulting in a sonic mixture not unlike a fine montage composed of harmonizing appellations.

Respected in the jazz community as much for his offbeat, intelligent repertoire as for his constantly exploring style, Mehldau offers up nothing but fresh, appropriately medicated ear candy in his new record. His longtime trio, with Jorge Rossy behind the kit and Larry Grenadier on bass, cut the record in a two-day session that resulted in another album of all originals that remains unreleased.

The appropriately chosen opening track, Harold Arlen's classic, "Get Happy," throws aside the pills in favor of a more organic approach, setting the tone for the entire record. Rhythm section keeps an aloof and suggestive pocket over which Mehldau explores the true nature of his feelings, finally proving that by doing so, one can indeed "get happy."

Among the notably challenging selections for Anything Goes, the ballad "Still Crazy After All These Years," sticks out for its crisp interpretation. His piano drips with all the emotions of a run-in with a past lover that are so brilliantly conveyed by Paul Simon's original. His remake is timid and nostalgic while being acutely aware of the dormant ember of attraction. 

He explores such feelings relentlessly, using harmonic tension to emphasize the intangible chemistry of such an encounter.

The album culminates with a Radiohead tune, "Everything in the Right Place," where Mehldau showcases his ability to extract an inspiring jazz tune from the most surprising of places. This selection is the third Radiohead composition he has covered, a trend that has become almost a signature characteristic of Mehldau. 

While Radiohead fans may not appreciate such meddling, the groove is undeniably contagious. The turmoil of the original is both replaced and captured by the dissonant harmonies of Mehldau's piano and anchored by the contrasting effect of Rossy's controlled percussive chaos coupled with Grenadier's pulsating bass.

Anything Goes isn't the most indicative representation of the trio's sound for those who are unacquainted, but it does offer fans a new facet of Mehldau's playing. The meandering style he exhibits in previous recordings is noticeably compressed; superfluous tangents are trimmed in favor of more direct routes to equally meaningful territory.

Nonetheless, the record is unmistakably Mehldau from the dancing, satin rhythm of "Tres Palabras" to the swaggering swing of the obscure Thelonious Monk composition, "Skippy." With Anything Goes, Mehldau, Rossy and Grenadier reject over-prescribed medication for introspective exploration and actively pursue their sonic rebellion against muzak-nation.

Brad Mehldau

Anything Goes

Warner Bros. Records

The verdict: Ditch the Prozac and self-medicate with Mehldau.

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