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…
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
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…
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