Largo (2023 Remaster) Brad Mehldau

• 1When It Rains (2023 Remaster)06:36
• 2You're Vibing Me (2023 Remaster)03:28
• 3Dusty McNugget (2023 Remaster)05:42
• 4Dropjes (2023 Remaster)03:58
• 5Paranoid Android (2023 Remaster)09:04
• 6Franklin Avenue (2023 Remaster)03:42
• 7Sabbath (2023 Remaster)04:40
• 8Dear Prudence (2023 Remaster)05:21
• 9Free Willy (2023 Remaster)05:06
• 10Alvarado (2023 Remaster)04:00
• 11Wave / Mother Nature's Son (2023 Remaster)06:28
• 12I Do (2023 Remaster)07:17
• Total Runtime01:05:22

Info for Largo (2023 Remaster)

Largo was recorded in 2001 and is the first record of Mehldau’s that departs from either the piano trio or solo format. It can be seen as the culmination of musical experiences that he gathered while living in Los Angeles, most notably the music he heard at Largo, a club in Hollywood he went to regularly and pays tribute to in the title of the record.

Mehldau says, “I heard a lot of terrific singer-songwriters there for the first time – people like Rufus Wainright, Fiona Apple, Elliot Smith and Aimee Mann. I got re-introduced to how beautiful a good pop song can be through hearing them. Its depth is more about pairing something down, chiseling it into a strong, succinct statement – very different than jazz, which for me is often about going out on a limb and staying there.” Jon Brion, who has worked with those musicians variously as a sideman, producer, or songwriting collaborator, made a strong impression on Mehldau in his weekly engagement at Largo.

The two met there and over the next few years and developed a musical friendship that eventually resulted in ‘Largo,’ with Jon Brion producing. It is a blend of two aesthetics that happily overlap: Mehldau’s jazz improvisation and Brion’s creative, rich production. The album is wide-ranging in texture and big in scale: Woodwind or brass ensembles are on several tracks, and one feature of the record is a heavy emphasis on powerful drums – Matt Chamberlain and veteran rock master Jim Keltner are the core rhythm on most of the album, often simultaneously playing, like on the cover of ‘Paranoid Android,’ whose middle section becomes a monster rock affair.

Still, Jon Brion wisely keeps Mehldau’s piano at the center of things sonically and conceptually throughout the record; it never gets swallowed up in the mix, but hovers above and around the proceedings, occupying its own space. The opener, ‘When it Rains,’ is emblematic of the record. It combines the paired down simplicity of a pop song with the ‘out on a limb’ aesthetic of Mehldau’s improvisation. The effect on the listener is strong and directly emotional, and leaves you wanting more.

"In the most enigmatic project up to this point in his career, Brad Mehldau explores conflicting aesthetics, sometimes in tracks positioned next to each other, and occasionally within the confines of a single performance. A spare simplicity governs much of the album, emphasized by almost puritanical horn arrangements -- long notes, mournful triadic chords. After acknowledging these episodes with childlike figurations on the piano, Mehldau then builds his solos along more dissonant lines, which invariably end up enhancing the mood. But then there are tracks like "Dropjes," whose electronic effects gnash angrily at the piano, or "Free Willy," on which putty attached to the instrument's low strings allows Mehldau to unleash a feral improvisation, with lines that suggest scurrying rodents more than bebop blowing. Producer Jon Brion stimulated much of this adventurism, at times diving directly into the mix with his guitar synth or Chamberlin keyboard. But what intrigues most about Largo in the end is the perspective it offers on Mehldau, whose playing here is, as always, intelligent, perhaps a bit cerebral, and now open as well to sonic exotica." (Robert L. Doerschuk, AMG)

Brad Mehldau, piano, synthesizer, vibraphone
Larry Grenadier, bass
Darek "Oles" Oleszkiewicz, bass
Justin Meldal-Johnson, bass
Matt Chamberlain, drums
Jorge Rossy, drums
Jim Keltner, drums
Victor Indrizzo, drums, percussion
Jon Brion, guitar, guitar synth, piano percussion

Recorded April 2–8, 2001, at Studio B, Capitol Recording Studios in Hollywood, California
Produced by Jon Brion

Digitally remastered

Brad Mehldau
played in a number of different ensembles, including label mate Joshua Redman’s quartet, before becoming a bandleader himself in the 1990s. The Brad Mehldau Trio, which tours the world extensively, made eight acclaimed recordings for Warner Bros., including the five widely praised Art of the Trio albums with former drummer Jorge Rossy (released as a boxed set by Nonesuch in 2011). The pianist’s nine years with Nonesuch have been equally productive, beginning with the solo disc Live in Tokyo and including six trio records Day is Done, House on Hill, Live, Ode, and Where Do You Start, as well as a collaboration with soprano Renée Fleming, Love Sublime; a chamber ensemble album, Highway Rider; two collaborations with label mate Pat Metheny, Metheny Mehldau and Quartet, the latter of which also includes Trio members Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier; a CD/DVD set of live solo performances, Live in Marciac; and collaborations with genre-crossing musicians on Modern Music, with composer/pianist Kevin Hays and composer/arranger Patrick Zimmerli. Additionally, he produced saxophonist Joshua Redman’s 2013 release Walking Shadows.

Mark Guiliana
According to Modern Drummer, Mark Guiliana is “at the forefront of an exciting new style of drumming.” The New Jersey native’s unique and un-compromised approach to playing the drums has earned him international acclaim as both a leader and a sideman. In 2004, Guiliana created HEERNT, an “experimental-garage-jazz” trio based in New York. The band’s debut record, Locked in a Basement, was called the record “the most exuberant, dramatic, beautiful, sassy, genre-busting little outing that I've heard since I don't know when” by legendary drummer Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson). As a sideman, Guiliana’s longest partnership has been with world-renowned jazz bassist Avishai Cohen. He toured all over the world with Cohen from 2003 until 2008, performing on six studio records and a live DVD recorded at the Blue Note in Manhattan. Guiliana has also recorded and/or performed with Meshell Ndegeocello, Dhafer Youssef, Wayne Krantz, Matisyahu, Jazz Mandolin Project, Jason Lindner, Brad Shepik, Bobby McFerrin, Tigran Hamasyan, and many more. His debut solo record, Beat Music, which was co-produced by Ndegeocello, was released in the spring of 2013. Guiliana plays Gretsch drums, Sabian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, and Evans drumheads.

This album contains no booklet.