The jazz pianist Brad Mehldau is the piano man of my summer dreams. And on this, the hottest day of the year (so far), I am keeping my sanity and my cool by listening to his extraordinarily nuanced recordings of "new standards."
The jazz crowd love Mehldau for his virtuosity and musical originality, changing keys and time signatures and completely shifting the listener's perspective on familiar composition.
Me? I love the songs he covers -- jazz takes on Radiohead, Paul Simon, Soundgarden, the Beatles and 60's pop.
Listen to him steal "Alfie" back from the realm of Musak:
On his trio recordings, the bass and percussion bring electricity to even the subtlest ballads, like a softly burning candle that sparks and crackles. His treatment of L&M's "Blackbird" is revelatory:
Mehldau now has a place on my list of go-to jazz pianists, who always satisfy. It's rare company: Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Ahmad Jamal, Herbie Hancock and, of course, Thelonius Monk.
You can beat the heat with any these guys, but Mehldau is for me the new, new thing.
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