Brad Mehldau Trio with Larry Grenadier & Jeff Ballard at SFJAZZ Spring Festival at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Over the past two decades, no artist has done more to extend and refine the piano trio’s possibilities than Brad Mehldau. With brilliant Northern California-raised compatriots, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard, he’s forged a strikingly beautiful group sound distinguished by a flexible approach in which the players continuously trade roles, often eschewing traditional bass and drum solos while elaborating on the form of a song. Whether playing his own stunning compositions, Thelonious Monk classics, American Songbook standards, or more contemporary tunes by Nick Drake, Radiohead or the Beatles, Mehldau has a gift for long, emotionally arching improvisations...

read more

Over the past two decades, no artist has done more to extend and refine the piano trio’s possibilities than Brad Mehldau. With brilliant Northern California-raised compatriots, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard, he’s forged a strikingly beautiful group sound distinguished by a flexible approach in which the players continuously trade roles, often eschewing traditional bass and drum solos while elaborating on the form of a song. Whether playing his own stunning compositions, Thelonious Monk classics, American Songbook standards, or more contemporary tunes by Nick Drake, Radiohead or the Beatles, Mehldau has a gift for long, emotionally arching improvisations. The Nonesuch studio release, 2010’s Highway Rider, is his most ambitious project yet; a ravishing double album designed with producer Jon Brion features the trio along with saxophonist Joshua Redman and a chamber orchestra. Also last year, Carnegie Hall made Mehldau the first jazz musician ever appointed to the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair. Wherever his musical travels take him, Brad Mehldau always returns to the creative cauldron of the acoustic trio format. Known for selecting different tunes on each night of an engagement, this SFJAZZ run provides a rare chance to hear a wide cross-section of their recent material.

show less