The American pianist is an expert at translating pop music into modern jazz. Now he has dedicated an album to the best pop group.
Critics consider Brad Mehldau the first to transfer pop music from the post-Beatles era to a jazz repertoire – without diminishing the importance of the songs. Indeed: Anyone who’s heard Radiohead’s glossy cover of the American pianist or exposed himself to the full length of the 16-minute thunderstorm he unleashes on his version of “And I Love It” knows what’s meant. Youtube’s “Easy Beatles Piano” couldn’t be farther away. For his new Fab Four show, which was recorded live in Paris in September 2020, Mehldau chose ten songs he had not recorded before.
Some things (“She Said, She Said”, “If I Needed Someone”) are very close to the original, but the pianist seems to have suddenly lost his will to experiment at the age of 50. “Golden Slumbers” is an eight-minute meditation, “I Saw Her Standing There” is fun boogie-woogie, and “Baby’s in Black” is gospel that Keith Jarrett couldn’t nail deeper. grouchy.
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