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By Doug Robinson (Mar 31, 2006) First off, I want to thank those of you who have commented positively about this column, and especially those who are relying on my comments enough to actually buy the recordings I'm recommending. I am genuinely humbled by your trust, and I sincerely hope your sonic explorations yield inspiration, or at least satisfaction. I suppose in the context of a world with such dramatic troubles, some might think it frivolous to devote so much attention to the handful of CDs I have time to talk about here. Who knows? Give me a couple of shots of mescal, and I could probably argue that point of view myself. But I think at the core of my being I would still have the optimistic belief that music has the power to uplift and even enlighten us. If I could solve the world's problems by ditching my CD and mp3 collection, I'd do it in a second-but that doesn't seem to be an option. So instead, I will write this column every month as long as there is interest, in an attempt to point you toward musicians who are creating the music that moves me. Hopefully, some of it will do the same for you. I would like to talk about pianist Brad Mehldau's Art of the Trio, Volume 3-Songs. This album came to mind when I was chatting with a wonderful local painter here in San Miguel at a party one night. He was describing what he missed about a certain era of jazz recordings when you could actually sense the musicians listening to and playing off each other. I don't think it's exactly a trade secret anymore that the once-exciting experiment of "overdubbing" audio (i.e., recording one musician at a time and then layering the performances to create the illusion of a group sound) has now become the de facto recording technique for most pop albums. It's fast and it's cheap, but it also robs the music of genuine interplay among musicians. į You might not notice the lack of spontaneity while spinning one of these records in the background as you whip up some guacamole in your kitchen, but it can become obvious when you listen closely. Thirty-six-year-old Brad Mehldau is one of hundreds of jazz musicians who have thrown this convention back into the faces of producers, choosing the time-worn tradition of locking three guys in a room with only their wits, a piano, an acoustic bass (no amplification) and drums, and then not letting them out till there is a masterpiece waiting to be released. The Art of the Trio, Volume 3-Songs is that masterpiece (although in this case it was recorded live at the Village Vanguard, in New York City). Even at his young age, much has already been written about Mehldau's amazing piano playing. In a nutshell, let me say that he combines elements of pop, jazz and classical in almost everything he plays. On this particular album, you will hear his melodic original compositions alongside jazz standards like "Baubles, Bangles and Beads," as well as creative covers of Radiohead's "Exit Music for a Film" and singer/songwriter Nick Drake's beautiful "River Man." If you are familiar with classical composers, you will almost definitely hear Chopin and Brahms. If you're a jazz buff, you'll hear the influence of Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans, but there's more to Mehldau than that. He's got absolutely monstrous piano-playing technique, and while he doesn't flaunt that aspect of his playing often, during one of his more exciting improvised solos he plays two independent themes, one with each hand. Notice I didn't say "counter-melodies." He simply possesses the freakish ability to explore two unique musical themes at the same time. Eventually, the two ideas do come together in a synergistic burst that brings the small live audience to their feet, as if they've been holding their breath in anticipation of the moment. Special notice has to be given to bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy for what can only be described as group telepathy as they hang with Mehldau through every twist and turn, whether he's spontaneously quoting The Beatles or Debussy. He's recorded several albums with this sympathetic rhythm section, but Art of the Trio, Volume 3-Songs is the one I always turn to when I want to play something really special for my friends. In closing, let's talk about where to audition and buy this music. There are really only two mainstream formats of recorded music today: CDs and mp3s. If you've got an internet connection and an iPod or some other mp3 player, you have many options for downloading albums and even individual tracks, such as web-based stores like a new site run by a friend of mine called www.newhitsonline.com. If you crave the physical artifact (and slightly better sonics) of a CD, you can order from these same sources and pay shipping and taxes, but a stateside visit to Borders or Barnes & Noble is probably your best bet right now. One great thing about all of the above sources is that they allow you to hear 30- to 60-second blurbs from each track on a CD-very helpful in avoiding albums that simply don't appeal to you, no matter how much I like them. Doug Robinson is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who plays with the group Mo' Ritmo here in San Miguel. Mo' Ritmo is currently recording their first album, which should be available by this fall. |