Brad Mehldau- Blackbird

Brad Mehldau is one of my favorite pianists, and one whose playing has shaped my own. Born in 1970 in Jacksonville, Florida, he ranks among the most influential jazz pianists of his generation. Classically trained from age six, he became drawn to jazz in his early teens and studied at the New School in New York, graduating in 1993, where his teachers included Junior Mance, Fred Hersch, and Kenny Werner. He played in saxophonist Joshua Redman's quartet in the mid-1990s before leading his own trio, originally with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy; Jeff Ballard replaced Rossy in 2005. What draws me to his playing is the way classical counterpoint and jazz improvisation fuse into something distinctly his own. His style is built on contrapuntal textures, independent left-hand lines, and careful voice-leading, letting melody and harmony unfold simultaneously, all wrapped in an elastic, almost conversational sense of time. Early in his career critics reached for comparisons to Bill Evans, a label he pushed back against even as it stuck. His catalog is a model of restless curiosity: the landmark Art of the Trio series, the boundary-pushing Largo (2002) with producer Jon Brion, the orchestral Highway Rider (2010), collaborations with Pat Metheny, Joshua Redman, and mandolinist Chris Thile, classical song cycles with singers like Renée Fleming, and even a Bach-inspired record and a Beatles tribute. His 2019 album Finding Gabriel won him his first Grammy, for Best Instrumental Jazz Album. Pianist Gerald Clayton once said there's hardly a modern pianist who hasn't borrowed something from Mehldau, and listening closely to his recordings, it's easy to hear why so many of us, myself included, keep finding new things to stea