| Modern Music | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 20, 2011 | |||
| Recorded | October 2010 | |||
| Studio | Mechanics Hall (Worcester, Massachusetts) | |||
| Genre | Classical, avant-garde | |||
| Length | 47:43 | |||
| Label | Nonesuch | |||
| Producer | Patrick Zimmerli | |||
| Brad Mehldau chronology | ||||
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Modern Music is an album by pianists Brad Mehldau and Kevin Hays.
The three protagonists for the album – composer and arranger Patrick Zimmerli, and pianists Brad Mehldau and Kevin Hays – were friends. [1] Mehldau was already known for mixing elements from forms of music other than jazz into his performances, and Hays had more recently extended "from his signature, intelligent, hard swinging post-bop approach to include compositions with modern classical touches". [1]
The album was recorded in October 2010 at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts. [2] Zimmerli composed four of the pieces and arranged the others, which included an original each from Mehldau and Hays. [1] The three Zimmerli pieces have "busy palettes, intricate cross-keyboard dialogues, and contrapuntal studies". [1]
The album was released by Nonesuch Records on September 20, 2011. [2] The AllMusic reviewer concluded that "it's not a jazz album, but one in which new considerations of harmonic composition and intra-instrument dialogue are readily apparent and delivered upon with discipline as well as verve". [1] The Financial Times reviewer commented on the two pianists' awareness of what they were doing together and the positive impact of the structure of their playing. [3]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [1] |
| Financial Times | [3] |
| The Guardian | [4] |
| Tom Hull | B+ [5] |
