| OCR Text |
Show rage lb i Ht DAILY HERALD (www.HarkTheHerald.com), ' Provo, Utah, Friday, December 27, 2002 Brad Mehldau making music from life 's mess Los Angeles Times HOLLYWOOD - As evening crackles to life on Hollywood Boulevard, Brad Mehldau ventures out. Just iC"?'"-" ? radio during his formative years Steely Dan; Fleetwood Mac; Earth, Wind & Fire; Frank Zappa; Rush. rock was difficult not to absorb. He was curious about blown away." Encountering Brion reawakened something old and familiar about his connection to music. Not his classical training or his tour of New York's jazz clubs, but what was beaming out of the By LYNELL GEORGE Album-oriente- d like old times. He wandered away from this old, cacophonous neighborhood not so long ago, but as he winds across the Knitting Factory's crowded main stage, he slips right back into Brion who had produced Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann ;' ' and Rufus Wainwright and where he might go next But Brion admits he wasn't, at first, so curious about . Mehldau. HONEYBAKED. Simply. Delicious. it, its rhythm and attitude. California casual, his brick-re- d shirt untucked, rumpled, his dark hair tousled, the pianist appears ready to d retire to a porch with a cold beer, just in time to catch the first neon flickering on. In fact, as if teasing out the illusion, he walks past the piano, reaching instead for two mallets, then hovers over the vibes. Out tumbles a intro that spacey, herky-jerkbuilds into a tricked-ou- t verwrap-aroun- ' V .j, . y sion of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Wave" before drifting into the Beatles' "Mother Nature's Son." . Arranged around him are shiny tools for improvisation: two upright basses. Two drum kits. The piano. And, through the evening, a parade of brass and woodwinds. Mehldau is hip to hip with his utility men, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, long the backbone of his jazz trio. On this fall night, drummer Matt Chamberlain and bassist Darek "Oles" Oleszkiewicz add another layer of texture and sass to a set of compositions that elude top-flig- ht easy descriptors. The band, which changes incarnations throughout the evening, takes its turns through the disparate cuts that make up Mehldau's latest recording, "Largo" part valentine, part journal of sonic sketches of his life in Los Angeles in the late '90s. This performance feels more like a workshop than a prosaic "let's toss the solos around and sail to a close" club set. Tonight offers a through-the-keyhoglimpse of raw improvisation that just a few hundred people musicians, fans, curious bystanders are lucky enough to witness. Mehldau and his le Jon Brion, are in effect sketching as they go. Out saunters "Dusty d McNugget," a strutting, original that has been getting a fair share of ;';. somecrossover airplay for thing from a "jazz album? Angular, thudding with acoustic and Mehldau's own sly, funkified approach, it all feels buoyed by the spirits of Thelonious . Monk and Frank Zappa. Its humor is intrinsic, and never winking. Pressing forward, the band disassembles the recognizable say, Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" or pares "Dear Prudence" down to its chassis. A gleeful Brion, in turquoise suit coat and bird- loose-hippe- drum-and-ba- ss ' "4 AR1 M1NTZ Los Angeles Times style: Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau poses in front of mural on 10th Ave., which incorporates a keyboard. His own nest coif, serves as antic ringmaster, trapezing from role to role. Conductor, sideman, cheerleader, he leaves no perspective untried, whether banging on the vibes as if on water pipes or crouched in a view. corner for a Md's-ey- e Horn and woodwind players make their way on and off stage, and Mehldau is letting it all go: "I don't know who they are, but it doesn't matter. They know who they are," he jokes, his face slightly bewildered. About midway through, he scratches, his mussed head: Tve never done this thing before. A set list Tve never had such a big band to introduce," he mar- vels. His face is relaxed, alight, as if all of it is quickly sinking in, happening right before his eyes. He's careful not to blink. A week or so after his Knitting Factory Hollywood gig, Mehldau's back in Manhattan. He's installed in a hip hotel, Le Parker Meridien and seems slightly weary, with a cough. That doesn't stop him from sneaking a cigarette, then cranking up the AC to clear the lingering smoke. He's been putting the finishing touches on a new album with just the trio. Fresh off a week at the Village Vanguard, playing with Grenadier and Rossy, hell be heading off to Europe for a month or so of dates. But first hell duck upstate to spend a few days at home with his wife, Fleurine, and his baby daughter, Eden. The showcases at Knitting Factory were experimental forays to see just how "Largo's" c setup might play out live. Playing with that revolving lineup in the city that incubated many of the compositions had plenty of resonance for Mehldau. Those sketches marked the end of years of hard living. "To tell you the truth, I actually went out there (in 1996) and wound up in drug post-bronchi- rehab," he says, settling into love the suite's seat. "Before that, everything was in kind of shambles in my life. I stayed in a place for three months in Pasadena and then I figured, Til just stay out here for a while and see how it goes.' " He played dates with the late Billy Higgins and got to know bassist Darek Oles. He also fell into a regular session with the guys who played "The Tonight Show" gig. But what arrested his attention was a weekly "happening" at a Fairfax district cabaret called Largo, where he met stiff-backe- ; d There's no easier way to throw a party! Serve the delicious, tender HoneyBaked Ham for your New Year's celebration. producer Brion. Brion's Friday-nigshow became Mehldau's new habit, He says he was struck as much by Brion's daring as his intuitiveness. "I think the first time I heard him he was playing electric guitar, with a real sort of rock sound. Just all alone (with) all these real sort of sonic things going on. And then he launched into a Cole Porter song, I think it was 1 Love You.' And it was $500 OFF any size Half Ham i ,l II E hwiH Valid until HONEYBAKED. 123102. Simply Detetoui www.HoneyBakedOnline.com startling the way he was sort of reconfiguring it. Then (he did) some of his own original music, too. These Deautiful songs that just drew me in on an emotional level. It was kind of an experience that happens less and less as you get older because you get jaded. Where you really feel Must present coupon at time of purchast to receive offer. May not be com. bined with any other offer. One coupon per person, per visit at participating retail locations. While suppiies last. ? The : ! . A delicious complement to the The HoneyBaked Ham. . HONEYBAKED. www.HoneyBakedOnline.com Simply. Delicious. Available at participating retail locations. While supplies last. HoneyBaked Ham Company - 384 W. 1300 Street (801) 1083 W. Riverdale Road (801) Lake City: 5654 S. Redwood Road (801) 1915 E. Murray HoHaday Road (801) Orem Riverdale Salt HONEYBAKED TURKEY BREAST $19.99 liiB D0007"0215?"5 - - - on-dis- wo cell service is w kjy 60K!wmrKiaut 4 guests will love it - simply unwrap and enjoy! Your ht JC20II ICCSWbtmw mi WkwWWtwr SOOOWknmr . "II In 3 liULS Accessor! U (with any new activation) Etpim t9l.03 Uotorolla C332 r STOHS LOCATIONS VsSeyFair 1 7S 3 I Vsnsy Fair Kiosk I LaytonKiasKaa Layton 801.S93.614t (Cs Kiosk liytonr 8Q1.S21234 South Townt KavgsfitUI 8014212755 K)1-S01H- 9 IVowTinCR&r UntmsltyUsI I Kiosk 801.5934303 Cottonwood UaS 80M2i7i5 Va&yFtJr Kiosk 12 8Qj.76$-3$1- S 801-982-- msum I iJJSSL 5?.7 C After 50 man in rebsta Sfy m&) T -- Mobileauthtxued deafer aarvloi agraamant raqulnM h $200 aaity lamvnaiion las par numoar. Taaa. asaaaamanla. Mils and roammg Covaiaot not avitabla In at mm. Cradt approval, activation tea and chargaa mmmsa do not carry forward to a aubasouant M oycts. Any kacton ol a maxita uaad mmdad up and UtoO at lha kin minuta rata; caHa ara maaaurad Irom ins Uma lx Natworli bsoins to procaas Iha can (bMoni aia ohons tor mm ara oata. danasac Fraa cal notad. al dtotanoa ol domastic man) tarminrtlon caHa) ta avaaabla within your raglonal long lf r tbut not tor cmdH card or atnwsr Sxouc tjcapt caAng araa. Yotx uss ol ma aarvlos conalltuM acoilnoa ot markati only and aubjscl lo Changs wWiout nodes. Addaional raantctions apply-- , aaa pnmad matanaM tor eataM. OUar vaad tt aaMd la a ragWarad trademark ot Dautscha THaKom AG. CS002 IMPORTANT Unusat) a T INFORMATION t |
