Brad Mehldau

The leader of a new generation of pianists, Brad Mehldau (born in Jacksonville, Florida, August 23, 1970) has risen to the same level as his illustrious role models, Bill Evans and Chick Corea, and his solo and small group albums are among the best-selling jazz albums of all time. After debuting in quartet (1993), he adopts the trio formula on the majority of his recordings, featuring original compositions and an astonishing repertoire of pop-rock covers, from The Beatles to Radiohead. The five volumes of The Art of The Trio (1996-2000) are followed by daring albums such as Largo (2002), collaborations with Pat Metheny (2005), Love Sublime (with singer Renée Fleming, 2006), Highway Rider (2010, with Joshua Redman) and Mehliana: Taming the Dragon (2014), with drummer Mark Guiliana. Between each episode, Brad Mehldau performs solo or returns to his trio formed with Larry Grenadier and Jorge Rossy, then Jeff Ballard: Places (2000), Day Is Done (2005), Where Do You Start and Ode (2012), followed by covers of Blues and Ballads standards (2016). 2015 saw the release of a retrospective of his solo performances, 10 Years Solo Live, and the following year, a duo album with Joshua Redman: Nearness. After a collaboration with bluegrass guitarist Chris Thile, the pianist performs pieces from J. S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier on After Bach (2018), reunites with his trio on Seymour Reads the Constitution! (2018), then joins forces with Ambrose Akinmusire, Nils Frahm and Kurt Elling on Finding Gabriel (2019). Composer of the soundtrack to Yvan Attal's film Mon chien stupide (2019), he records a commission from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Variations on a Melancholy Theme,(2021), already presented during a tour in 2013. The opus Jacob's Ladder, released in 2022, welcomes performers Becca Stevens and Pedro Martins. Its successor, You Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays the Beatles (2023), comes from a concert given in 2020 at the Philharmonie de Paris and includes - in addition to previously unreleased versions of Fab Four classics - a variation on David Bowie's "Life on Mars". In 2024, classical interpretations of After Fauré and After Bach II are released simultaneously, followed by the original Ride Into the Sun (2025), featuring contributions from guitarists Daniel Rossen and Chris Thile.