Continuing To Explore The Jazz Trio

An album by one of the leading lights of the current jazz scene, Anything Goes by the Brad Mehldau Trio. Jazz purists of the old school are suspicious of any level of popular success by contemporary performers and rightly so in the vast majority of cases. But while Mehldau may not be cutting edge enough for some tastes, I found this disk to be rewarding and inventive, all the more so given what could be the somewhat restrictive form of the piano trio. Most of the material on the disk consists of reinterpretations of standards, a time honoured tradition in jazz but again given a surprising freshness here. Mehldau is the obvious leader but he is generous in the space alloted to what is more than a rhythm section with the bass of Larry Grenadier sometimes taking the melody line and the drums of Jorge Rossy pushing to the fore over the piano on other occasions. This approach is instead of the older one whereby the bassist and drummer get one fixed spot in a set to stretch out on a solo. Mehldau's own playing is more in the thoughtful line of Monk or Bill Evans than in the flashy technique driven tradition of Tatum or Peterson. The standards include Get Happy, The Nearness Of You, Anything Goes, Smile and I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face. There is a Monk piece, Skippy, and Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years adds another viewpoint. Some critics have found the inclusion of a number by the esoteric rock band Radiohead to be worthy of particular comment ( Everything In It's Right Place ) but to me it sounds neither out of place nor especially groundbreaking. Mehldau has recently branched out to perform with another current "name" Pat Metheney and it would be interesting to hear him play with horn players of similar stature at some point.