A Seoul encore for Mehldau Trio

Critically acclaimed jazz pianist Brad Mehldau is paying his fourth visit to Korea, to perform at the LG Arts Center with his world famous Mehldau Trio.
Mr. Mehldau was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1999 for the album “Art of the Trio 4: Back at the Vanguard,” following his first nomination in 1997. Another album, “Elegiac Cycle,” was chosen by Time magazine as one of the top 10 albums of 1999.
Commenting on his 11th album, “Live in Tokyo,” The New York Times said, “At his best, Mehldau plays with time: not through contrivances of meter, but through a bi-level rhythmic feeling... He is a deep improviser, but easy to follow.”
Like most other jazz artists, Mr. Mehldau was exposed to classical music in his early years. He took piano lessons when he was six, and joined a jazz band while he was in high school in Connecticut.
In a jazz contest sponsored by the Berklee College of Music, he won the Best All Around Musician award and later entered the music school on a scholarship. Later, Mr. Mehldau took part in recording the “Mood Swing” album with the Joshua Redman Quartet, his first major recording.
Mr. Mehldau has recorded and performed extensively since the early 1990s, especially with his trio, which features bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy.
Since 1996, the trio has released four volumes of “The Art of the Trio” and the albums “Anything Goes” and “Places,” a mixture of solos and group pieces. Also, Mr. Mehldau recorded “Elegiac Cycle,” a solo album, and worked with Jon Brion on “Largo.”
He has performed around the world with his trio, as a solo artist and with a number of well-known jazz musicians, including saxophonist Joshua Redman and his band.
He has also played with Charlie Haden and Lee Konitz, guitarists Peter Bernstein and Kurt Rosenwinkel, and tenor saxophonist Mark Turner.
Several major films have featured Mr. Mehldau’s music, including Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut” and Wim Wenders’ “The Million Dollar Hotel.”
In addition, he composed and played the original soundtrack for the French film “Ma Femme Est Une Actrice.”
Mr. Mehldau said in an interview that one of his greatest creative influences was Miles Davis, “because of the beauty of all that music he left us, first and foremost. His influence on how to retain your own identity in any situation ... his ability to make his improvised solo sound like a new song, through the strength, simplicity and integrity of his melodies and phrases.”

by Limb Jae-un

The concert will take place Thursday at 8. p.m. at LG Arts Center in southern Seoul. Ticket prices range from 20,000 won ($19.50) to 80,000 won. LG Arts Center can be reached from exit 7 of Yeoksam station on line No. 2. For ticket information, call 1588-7890 or go to www.lgart.co.kr.