| Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 27, 2017 | |||
| Recorded | December 30, 2015, January 2–3, 2016 | |||
| Studio | Avatar, New York City, US | |||
| Length | 1:03:25 | |||
| Label | Nonesuch | |||
| Producer | Chris Thile, Brad Mehldau | |||
| Brad Mehldau chronology | ||||
| ||||
Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau is an album by Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau. It was released by Nonesuch Records on January 27, 2017.
Mandolinist and vocalist Chris Thile and pianist Brad Mehldau first played together in 2011 when Mehldau had a residency at London's Wigmore Hall. [1] Their first tour as a duo was two years later. [1] They performed together again in 2015, after which they recorded this studio album. [1]
The album contains a mix of originals and covers. The latter "include Bob Dylan's 'Don't Think Twice It's Alright', Joni Mitchell's 'Marcie', Elliott Smith's 'Independence Day' as well as a composition by late 16th /early 17th century Irish harpist and composer Ruaidri Dáll Ó Catháin". [1]
Thile's singing covers a range of effects, including "invoking an ethereal falsetto, the imploring call of a '50s teenage crooner, a nasal Dylanesque snarl, or a rural bluesman's grouchy defiance". [2]
The music was recorded in Avatar Studios in New York City on December 30, 2015, and January 2–3, 2016. [3] The album was released by Nonesuch Records on January 27, 2017. It is available as two CDs, two LPs, or as a download. [4]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 78/100 [5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [6] |
| The Australian | [7] |
| DownBeat |  [8] |
| The Guardian | [2] |
| The Irish Times | [9] |
| laut.de | [10] |
| Mojo | [5] |
| PopMatters | 7/10 [11] |
| The Times | [12] |
| Tom Hull | B− [13] |
The Irish Times' reviewer commented that the songs on the album "dig down into the roots of American music, touching the common ancestry of jazz and country but coming up fresh and turned boldly to the post-genre future". [9]
Lloyd Sachs of JazzTimes stated "...this 64-minute, two-CD set is so idiosyncratic in its selection and treatment of material, it’s difficult to compare it to anything else... Throughout, the duo exploits the close relationship between keys and strings, achieving a seamless oneness on tunes such as Mehldau’s sprightly “Tallahassee Junction.” In exploring the world of Americana, Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau is sometimes cozy, sometimes haunting and sometimes, unexpectedly, both". [14]
LP bonus track: "Fast As You Can" (Fiona Apple) – 6:07
Source: [3]
| Chart (2017) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [15] | 110 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [16] | 133 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA) [17] | 46 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [18] | 83 |
| US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard) [19] | 1 |
| US Top Bluegrass Albums (Billboard) [20] | 1 |
Edgar Meyer is an American bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. He has won five Grammy Awards and been nominated seven times.
Christopher Scott Thile is an American mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and radio personality, best known for his work in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive bluegrass quintet Punch Brothers. He is a 2012 MacArthur Fellow. From 2016 to its cancellation in 2020, he hosted the radio variety show Live from Here.
"Give Me Your Hand" is a tune from early 17th century Ireland by Rory Dall O'Cahan. It is one of the most widely recorded pieces of Irish traditional music.
Bradford Alexander Mehldau is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.
Punch Brothers is an American band consisting of Chris Thile (mandolin), Brittany Haas (fiddle/violin), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Chris Eldridge (guitar), and Paul Kowert (bass). Their style has been described as "bluegrass instrumentation and spontaneity in the strictures of modern classical" as well as "American country-classical chamber music".
Mark Guiliana is a Grammy-nominated American drummer, composer and leader of the band Beat Music. He has played with Avishai Cohen, Brad Mehldau, David Bowie, Meshell Ndegeocello, Gretchen Parlato, Jason Lindner, Lionel Loueke, Dhafer Youssef, Tigran Hamasyan, Matisyahu, St. Vincent, the European piano trio Phronesis and his own groups, Heernt and the Mark Giuliana Jazz Quartet.
Punch is the debut album by Punch Brothers. It was released by Nonesuch Records on February 26, 2008.
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".
Robert Hurwitz was president of Nonesuch Records from 1984 to 2017. He was named Chairman Emeritus of Nonesuch Records in January 2017. He previously ran the American operations of ECM Records, after beginning his career at Columbia Records. Hurwitz grew up in Los Angeles, where he was trained as a pianist and graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School in 1967, then went on to study at the University of California, Berkeley.
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.
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.
Walking Shadows is a studio album by jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman. It was released in 2013 by Nonesuch Records.
After Bach is a solo album by pianist Brad Mehldau. It consists of five compositions from Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier interspersed with pieces by Mehldau that were inspired by them. The performances were recorded in 2017 and released by Nonesuch Records the following year.
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.
RoundAgain 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. The album was released on July 10, 2020 by Nonesuch Records label.
Suite: April 2020 is a solo piano album by Brad Mehldau. It was recorded in 2020 and released later that year by Nonesuch Records.
Jacob's Ladder is an album by Brad Mehldau. It was recorded in 2020 and 2021 and released by Nonesuch Records in 2022.
Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles is a solo piano album by Brad Mehldau. It was recorded in September 2020 and released by Nonesuch Records on 10 February 2023.
