Brad Mehldau Interview

Koobenot there’s a similar thread on the KC forum and a lot of people there seem to be equally annoyed with Beato and have expressed in a lot of details why they avoid him too. I stopped watching him long ago and I am definitely not watching him again in order to find examples of why I don’t like him, that would be yet another lost time 😀 The guy has some good interviews but he’s extremely biased and he’s a clickbaiter. Even the title of this interview is a clickbait. He makes money with YouTube impressions and views and so to succeed he has to resort to some dubious tactics.

Koobenot Agreed! I don't watch any of Beato's other content but his interviews are just fantastic

If "Click Baito" invests his money for interviews with good artists I am going to watch it. He started his youtube career as a reactionist, now he can consider himself an interviewer, that's a nice job.

vagfilm

Oh, can I comment on this even thought it’s a few months back?

So I really like Brad Mehldau, sometimes there’s something about his playing that bugs me but I never knew what it was. Maybe it’s the left hand thing? He plays a beautiful version of Blackbird, but listen to his left hand, it… kinda bugs me. But I still love it. 😃

https://youtu.be/kruKQCY77bc?si=coQCbe2EkvVUAANv

ShiroKuro I wish my left hand sounded that good when I played.

[deleted]

And I would give my right hand for my left to play that well. This said, there is something in his playing that, for me, is deeply annoying.

I agree with you both… as I said, I love it, it kinda bugs me, but I still love it.

vagfilm He has such a wide range of recordings and not all of it is to my taste but the recordings I like of his are among my favorites. His trio work with Grenadier and Ballard is the setting I enjoy him the most in. I've seen them many times over the years and they just get better and better.

Different strokes for different folks as the saying goes.

[deleted] Different strokes for different folks as the saying goes.

I just listened "Blackbird" in the video a few posts up and after reading the comments here I was wondering if I'd hear something annoying. 😀

I'm not a connoisseur of Jazz, but it sounded very beautiful to me. I liked the consistent pulse in his left hand in that arrangement. Some Jazz piano is like boogie-woogie. I can listen to it for a little while but then it starts to drive me crazy. What style of Jazz is Brad's Blackbird arrangement? I'd add that to my iTunes library.

God Bless,
David

David B Mehldau's influences range from jazz to classical to pop and even grunge so hard to pin him down with the standard "jazz" musician label. I suppose one would just call it a solo piano arrangement perhaps?

He kept it short and simple there which he does on occasion but when he stretches out he may lose those less inclined to more "outside" playing. The only recordings of Blackbird that I'm aware of on iTunes/Spotify are one trio recording which definitely takes a jazzier turn and one live solo recording that you may or may not like as he stretches out on that one with more improvisation.

I think a lot of his solo playing would be in your "drives me crazy" category but you might enjoy this one as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCfmg-Qut9I

My personal favorite Beatles cover he has recorded is from his Ballads and Blues album but again, this one may veer into territory that you don't enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDl9q2gaVwk

CyberGene And then his famous funky Chameleon track with that iconic Rhodes solo. Almost nobody at the time approached the Rhodes piano in such a manner that’s very different than acoustic piano. I’d go even farther to say he invented the jazz funk type of Rhodes soloing with the Head Hunters 😀

You left out the most important bit. The ARP Odyssey!

Pianissimo Or The Edge, guitarist from U2, he's very influential as a guitarist, but to me he's just an amateur with a delay pedal.

He's one of my favourite guitarists. Possibly my all-time favourite.

[deleted] I think a lot of his solo playing would be in your "drives me crazy" category but you might enjoy this one as well.

I'm a big Beatles fan and have a number of their albums in my library. That was a very beautiful rendition of Golden Slumbers.

[deleted] My personal favorite Beatles cover he has recorded is from his Ballads and Blues album but again, this one may veer into territory that you don't enjoy.

"And I Love Her" didn't drive me crazy, but I got kind of bored with it since it veered away from the recognizable melody so much. That even happens when I listen to some Christian composers when they reharmonize a lot.

Blackbird and Golden Slumbers I'd like to add to my library. And I Lover her not so much. However, I currently don't have any Jazz in my library. Maybe if I start listening to it more my taste will expand. Thanks for the suggestions.

God Bless,
David

David B However, I currently don't have any Jazz in my library. Maybe if I start listening to it more my taste will expand.

May I suggest an "easy" (almost cheesy) Keith Jarrett album? Melody at Night with You. Jazz standards in a manner more faithful to the melody, but still with the Jarrett quality.

Another wonderful entry point to jazz piano is almost any album from Oscar Peterson. Night Train, Oscar Peterson and the Bassists, are 2 favorites. By "entry point" I mean "easy on ears", not easy on keys 😀...

vagfilm May I suggest an "easy" (almost cheesy) Keith Jarrett album? Melody at Night with You.

That has been my number 1 recommendation for people who are starting with jazz and asked me about accessible solo piano jazz ballade records.

vagfilm Jarrett’s duo recordings with Charlie Hayden don’t seem to get talked about much but they are among my favorite albums of his. They really had a great vibe together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX1YHLDLi3A

Ooh lots of big stuff to listen to coming up in this discussion!!

Didn’t Beato say something like rather than call Mehldau a jazz player, he would call him an improviser? That makes sense to me. (I still need to listen to that interview too…)

[deleted] Jarrett’s duo recordings with Charlie Hayden don’t seem to get talked about much but they are among my favorite albums of his.

I have all KJ solo albums (even the late releases of previously recordings that frankly are not that exciting…), most of the acoustic trio, both duets with Haden (Last Dance and Jasmine), and many many more… I like them all 😀. Koln, Rio and Dark Intervals are my desert island CDs.