Highway Rider / Brad Mehldau

Label: Nonesuch Records

Contemporary Jazz. Mehldau adds an orchestral element to his distinct style- sometimes this works and even transcends his previous work with the Mehldau trio, and other times it falls a bit flat.

ray futia 3-31-2016

FCCs none

Suggests: 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11

1. John Boy 3:15 – Upbeat and driving. Nice juxtaposition of chipper piano and sax with tinny shuffle drums and somber chamber style brass.
2. Don’t Be Sad 8:40 – slow, introspective ballad. Lead sax, backed by orchestral synths, piano and the chamber brass toward the end. It builds toward the second half, but the synths are a little cheesy sounding. The orchestra might be real but it sounds fake here.
3. At the Tollbooth 1:07 – Solo piano. A nice interlude.
4. Highway Rider* 7:45 – Very interesting breakbeat-ish drums, standup bass, and piano that constantly switches time. Almost like a hemiola (think Blue Rondo a la Turk). Awesome builds and releases of tension throughout.
5. The Falcon Will Fly again* 8:21 – Upbeat and driving. No bass; the track is held down by the piano. Builds into interesting piano and soprano sax noodling
6. Now You Must Climb Alone 4:05 – String chamber music (definitely not a synth this time). A bit dreary. Leads into the next track.
7. Walking the Peak* 8:00 – Picks up from the last track. Drums enter with tams and the track slowly builds and breaks into awesome sax jamming with orchestral backing, followed by solo piano. The orchestra returns for a big ending.
8. We’ll Cross the River Together* 12:28 – Slow start with orchestra, gives way to hard bop with orchestra backing by midway. This becomes more interesting as it progresses and the strings become more present.
9. Capriccio 5:20 – Piano driven with flamenco style hand-clapping serving as the only percussion.
10. Sky Turning Grey* 6:24 – Drums, piano, and sax. Laid back drum beat gives this one a loungy feel. Nice pondering piano and sax.
11. Into the City* 7:37 – Frantic. Drums, Upright Bass, and Piano. Very interesting breakbeat rhythm (on a real kit though). Breaks into more traditional hard bop but keeps the spacey, frantic feel from earlier
12. Old West 8:28 – Piano and Sax- no drums. Starts out with scrambling noodling piano and soprano sax together. Breaks into another upbeat driving, rhythm driven duet between the piano and sax
13. Come with Me 6:19 – Fast and tense with a complex rhythm. Piano, sax, and bass. Not a bad track, but relative to the rest of the album, it’s kind of more of the same.
14. Always Departing 6:21 – Chamber orchestra for the first half. Piano comes in in the second half. Not bad, but a bit of a dirge up until the end. Tension builds at the very end, leading into the next track.
15. Always Returning 9:52 – Churning. Trying to be a big grand finale, but a little too grandiose. Orchestral backing sounds a bit synth-like again.