| Blues and Ballads | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 3, 2016 | |||
| Recorded | December 10, 2012; May 12, 2014 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 55:24 | |||
| Label | Nonesuch | |||
| Producer | Brad Mehldau | |||
| Brad Mehldau chronology | ||||
| ||||
Blues and Ballads is a studio album by jazz pianist Brad Mehldau. It is a piano trio recording, with Larry Grenadier on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums. Mehldau received a Grammy nomination at the end of 2016 for Best Improvised Jazz Solo on the album's "I Concentrate on You". [1] [2]
The previous release by the trio of Brad Mehldau (piano), Larry Grenadier (bass), and Jeff Ballard (drums) was Where Do You Start , in 2012. [3]
All seven of the tracks are covers. [3] The album was recorded at Avatar Studios, New York City, on December 10, 2012, and May 12, 2014. [4]
At Metacritic, that assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 84, based on six reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". [5]
The Financial Times reviewer commented that "Each track is a beautifully crafted, richly detailed miniature with its own tale to tell." [6] Peter Hum of Ottawa Citizen wrote: "for those who think Mehldau’s music can be too formidable for their tastes, Blues and Ballads should be a more straightforward but still deeply satisfying delight, as it will be for his legions of devotees". [7] The Times 's Chris Pearson wrote, "Brad Mehldau is adept at bending almost any music to the will of the jazz tradition, whether it’s alternative rock or, as heard at the Wigmore Hall last December, establishment baroque. Yet this album has his most traditional song selection yet: four jazz standards, a Beatles ballad and just two contemporary songs, both of which are pretty much Tin Pan Alley pastiches." [8] Dave Gelly in his review for The Guardian stated, "deceptively sweet-sounding set which, once you cotton on to the pianist’s way of treating a few mainly well-known tunes, is absolutely absorbing. Instead of the usual jazz method of improvising on a tune over and over again, known as “playing choruses”, he plays the song with a few variations and then goes into a kind of free meditation on it." [9]
Will Layman of PopMatters added, "The repertoire here, then, creeps up on you. Mehldau and his longstanding trio (with Larry Grenadier on bass and drummer Jeff Ballard) play with a preternatural relaxation and ease throughout, often using a subtle Latin feeling. There is an incredible amount of space within the center of these performances, and those gaps and silences, those pauses between notes and beats, open up huge possibilities that the musicians fill with imagination." [10] Geno Thackara of All About Jazz stated, "The trio continually enjoys the easy back-and-forth of longtime mates without losing any spontaneity. Whether there's some complexity behind a song's structure or not, the results are always pleasing to the ear and no trouble to simply follow if you don't feel like dissecting what's going on. More seriously intense work can wait for another album (or for the listener, another hour). Forward-thinking envelope-pushers deserve a break now and then as much as anyone, and Blues and Ballads makes an enticing rainy-day listen to give their down time and ours a most beautifully cool accompaniment." [11]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 84/100 [5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| All About Jazz |   [11] |
| AllMusic | [12] |
| The Australian | [13] |
| The Buffalo News | [14] |
| Down Beat |  [15] |
| Financial Times | [6] |
| The Guardian | [9] |
| PopMatters | 8/10 [10] |
| The Times | [8] |
| Tom Hull | B+ [16] |
Source: [3]
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [17] | 43 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [18] | 58 |
| French Albums (SNEP) [19] | 78 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) [20] | 64 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP) [21] | 26 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [22] | 68 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [23] | 88 |
| US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard) [24] | 2 |
Larry Grenadier is an American jazz double bassist.
Bradford Alexander Mehldau is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.
Jeff Ballard is an American jazz drummer. He has played with Ray Charles and Pat Metheny and played periodically with Chick Corea in many groups such as Origin and the Chick Corea New Trio. He also played with many New York–based jazz musicians such as Reid Anderson, Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, Miguel Zenon and Eli Degibri. He has also played with the Joshua Redman Elastic Band.
Metheny Mehldau is a jazz album released in 2006 by Nonesuch Records. Most of the album is a duet between guitarist Pat Metheny and pianist Brad Mehldau. On two songs, they are accompanied by drummer Jeff Ballard and bassist Larry Grenadier.
Metheny Mehldau Quartet is a jazz album by guitarist Pat Metheny and pianist Brad Mehldau, released in 2007 by Nonesuch Records. It features bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard.
Highway Rider is an album by Brad Mehldau, released in 2010 by Nonesuch Records.
Patrick Zimmerli is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger, and record producer.
Ode is a contemporary jazz album by American pianist Brad Mehldau. It features Mehldau's regular trio partners, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard. The album was released on March 20, 2012 by Nonesuch Records.
Day Is Done is an album by the Brad Mehldau Trio released on the Nonesuch label in 2005. The album was Mehldau's first to feature Jeff Ballard, who replaced the Mehldau Trio's original drummer Jorge Rossy.
House on Hill is an album by American pianist and composer Brad Mehldau released on the Nonesuch label in 2006. The album was mainly recorded at the sessions which produced Anything Goes (2004) and is the first album entirely composed by Mehldau since Places (2000).
Brad Mehldau Trio Live is a live album by American pianist and composer Brad Mehldau's Trio released on the Nonesuch label in 2008.
Where Do You Start is an album by the Brad Mehldau Trio released on the Nonesuch label in 2012.
Brad Mehldau is an American jazz pianist. He first recorded in 1991, for saxophonist Christopher Hollyday's The Natural Moment. He has recorded more than forty albums as leader or co-leader, many more as a sideman, and for several soundtracks.
10 Years Solo Live is a recording by jazz pianist Brad Mehldau. It contains solo piano tracks from 19 concerts in Europe during the period 2004–2014.
Nearness is an album by jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman and pianist Brad Mehldau. It contains six duets recorded in concerts in Europe during 2011. The record was released on September 9, 2016 by Nonesuch. It was Grammy-nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Album at the end of 2016. The record also produced two singles.
Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau is an album by Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau. It was released by Nonesuch Records on January 27, 2017.
Walking Shadows is a studio album by jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman. It was released in 2013 by Nonesuch Records.
Seymour Reads the Constitution! is an album by pianist Brad Mehldau. The trio recording, with Larry Grenadier on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums, was released by Nonesuch Records in 2018. The pianist reported that the melody and name of the title track came from a dream, during which actor Philip Seymour Hoffman read to him. The album received two Grammy nominations at the end of 2018.
Finding Gabriel is an album by Brad Mehldau. It was recorded over an 18-month period in 2017–18 and was released by Nonesuch Records in 2019. It won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.
LongGone is a studio album by Joshua Redman's quartet, consisting of himself on saxophone, Brad Mehldau on piano, Christian McBride on bass, and Brian Blade on drums. This is the quartet's third release after MoodSwing in 1994 and RoundAgain in 2020. The album features six tracks written by Redman: five originals and one ("Rejoice") taken from MoodSwing.