Brad Mehldau Trio

I went to see the Brad Mehldau Trio in the Cork Opera House last night. First time I've seen them live. I have to admit I wasn't the biggest fan in the world, but that was out of ignorance rather than dislike. I do own a few albums but nothing crazy like.

First thing to be said about the show: hardly anyone there! Not surprising really, considering what a poor following jazz has in Ireland, especially Cork (see future post of mine). Second thing to mention: no photography! a dude had to come out on stage and make a point that the band requested this rule to be especially enforced, so no mobile phone snaps for you I'm afraid.

The band came out and did their thing. Brad Mehldau sat at the piano, on a throne of ego, pretence, arrogance and self-assuredness... what a presence! He was the personification of jazz. Every note played was conjured from the fingers of a perfectionist. The man could have sat and played an hour of silence and I would have been bowled over. You were certain there would be no goofy remarks about Star Trek and Scientology between songs with this guy. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful! The rest of the band did their thing but it was all Mehldau for me on the night.

Brad Mehldau does a lot of interpretations of other peoples songs, but unlike certain other jazz composers who do the same (Christopher O'Riley et al), I find the end results of his reworkings to be exquisite. They work on their own, you don't need to have heard the original to appreciate the effort. Take for example his version of Radiohead's Paranoid Android. Christopher O'Riley also reinterpreted the song but I find his version to be an overworked copy of the original with a façade of fugal decorations. Mehldau's version on the other hand, works as a jazz piece in it's own right, while capturing the spirit of the original. It was another of his Radiohead interpretations which sealed the deal for me with the man and his music. For [it must be] years I always assumed "Knives Out" to be his own piece until I found out it was a Radiohead track. It has remained as my most favourite song of his, so when I heard its opening notes being played on the bass at the start of the encore you can't begin to imagine how electrifying it felt for me. It was like the whole world made sense right at that moment.



When a live performance manages to blur your awareness to your immediate surroundings, the same as when you're listing to a CD in the security of your own home, you know it's been a good night.