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The Highway Rider is pianist and composer Brad Mehldau's second collaboration with enigmatic pop producer Jon Brion. The first was 2002's ambitious but tentative Largo. As a collaboration, The Highway Rider is much more confident by contrast. Mehldau’s most ambitious work to date, its 15 compositions are spread over two discs and 100 minutes. His trio --bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard -- is augmented by saxophonist Joshua Redman, drummer Matt Chamberlain, and a chamber orchestra conducted by Dan Coleman. The album is a narrative jazz suite, orchestrated and arranged by Mehldau, though it has much in common with classical and pop music, as well.
The group settings range from solo to quintet, with and without strings, all of it recorded live in studio. Redman's addition is welcome. “Don’t Be Sad” features his consoling tenor, Mehldau (on pump organ and piano), Grenadier, and both drummers with orchestra. It begins as a piano solo, languidly establishing a pace that begins to swing with gospel overtones. Later, Redman's lower-register blowing, strings, and winds carry it out joyfully. Brion adds drum‘n’bass overtones to the trio on the title track. The electronics are a narrative device designating motion; they accompany the gradually assertive knottiness in the post-bop lyric. Mehldau begins “The Falcon Will Fly Again” with a complex solo that touches on Latin grooves, even as Chamberlain and Ballard create an organic loop effect with hand percussion. Redman's soprano creates a contrapuntal melody extending the harmonic dialogue. Disc two’s lengthy “We’ll Cross the River Together” has quintet and orchestra engaging in a beautiful study of texture, color, and expansive harmonics with wildly divergent dynamics. It showcases Mehldau’s trademark pianistic elegance in counterpoint. Redman's deep blues tenor nearly weeps on “Sky Turning Grey (For Elliot Smith).” “Capriccio’'s Latin rhythms contrast ideally: Mehldau’s classical, gently dissonant motifs create an exploratory harmonic palette as Redman’s magnetic soprano playing joins Mehldau's in the last third, anchoring the complex melody. The closer, “Always Returning,” builds to a climax that incorporates themes from the cycle. Redman and Mehldau soar with the orchestra before they all close it in a whispering tone poem. By combining sophisticated -- yet accessible -- forms with jazz improvisation, The Highway Rider exceeds all expectations, giving jazz-classical crossover a good name for a change. It is Mehldau’s most ambitious, creatively unfettered, and deeply emotional work to date, and will stand as a high watermark in his catalog.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo
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Joshua Redman, Soprano Saxophone - Mark Adams, Horn - Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Piano, Writer, MainArtist - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Steven Becknell, Horn - Dan Kelley, Horn - Phillip Yao, Horn - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator - Jeff Brainard, Horn
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Suzie Katayama, Orchestral Contractor - Joshua Redman, Tenor Saxophone - Mark Adams, Horn - Matt Chamberlain, Drums - Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Piano, Writer, Orchestration, MainArtist - Larry Grenadier, Upright Bass - Caroline Campbell, Violin - Andrew Duckles, Viola - Josefina Vergara, Violin - Julian Hallmark, Violin - Natalie Leggett, Violin - Sara Parkins, Violin - Cécila Tsan, Cello - Denyse Buffum, Viola - Roland Kato, Viola - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Steven Becknell, Horn - Dan Kelley, Horn - Trevor Handy, Cello - Alyssa Park, Violin - Tereza Stanislav, Violin - Stefanie Fife, Cello - Brian O'Connor, Horn - Jacqueline Brand, Violin - Timothy Landauer, Cello - Dorian Cheah, Violin - Jeff Ballard, Snare Drums, Percussion - Charlie Bishart, Violin, Strings Concertmaster - Phillip Yao, Horn - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Dan Coleman, Orchestra Leader, Orchestral Conductor - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator - Andrew Radford, Bassoon - Amen Ksajikian, Cello
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Piano, Writer, MainArtist - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Joshua Redman, Vocals - Matt Chamberlain, Drums, Vocals - Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Synthesizer, MainArtist - Larry Grenadier, Upright Bass - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Jeff Ballard, Vocals - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Dan Coleman, Vocals - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Joshua Redman, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Matt Chamberlain, Percussion, Vocals - Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Jeff Ballard, Percussion, Vocals - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Dan Coleman, Vocals - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator - The Fleurettes, Vocals
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Suzie Katayama, Orchestral Contractor - John Reynolds, Horn - Matt Funes, Viola - Mark Adams, Horn - Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Writer, Orchestration, MainArtist - Caroline Campbell, Violin - Andrew Duckles, Viola - Josefina Vergara, Violin - Julian Hallmark, Violin - Natalie Leggett, Violin - Sara Parkins, Violin - Cécila Tsan, Cello - Denyse Buffum, Viola - Roland Kato, Viola - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Trevor Handy, Cello - Alyssa Park, Violin - Ed Meares, Double Bass - Tereza Stanislav, Violin - Stefanie Fife, Cello - David Stone, Double Bass - Brian O'Connor, Horn - Jacqueline Brand, Violin - Victoria Miskolczy, Viola - Allen Savedoff, Contra Bassoon - Timothy Landauer, Cello - Dorian Cheah, Violin - Charlie Bishart, Violin, Strings Concertmaster - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Dan Coleman, Orchestra Leader, Orchestral Conductor - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator - Andrew Radford, Bassoon - Amen Ksajikian, Cello - Michael Valero, Double Bass
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Suzie Katayama, Orchestral Contractor - John Reynolds, Horn - Matt Funes, Viola - Joshua Redman, Tenor Saxophone - Mark Adams, Horn - Matt Chamberlain, Drums - Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Bells, Piano, Writer, Orchestration, MainArtist - Larry Grenadier, Upright Bass - Caroline Campbell, Violin - Andrew Duckles, Viola - Josefina Vergara, Violin - Julian Hallmark, Violin - Natalie Leggett, Violin - Sara Parkins, Violin - Cécila Tsan, Cello - Denyse Buffum, Viola - Roland Kato, Viola - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Trevor Handy, Cello - Alyssa Park, Violin - Ed Meares, Double Bass - Tereza Stanislav, Violin - Stefanie Fife, Cello - David Stone, Double Bass - Brian O'Connor, Horn - Jacqueline Brand, Violin - Victoria Miskolczy, Viola - Allen Savedoff, Contra Bassoon - Timothy Landauer, Cello - Dorian Cheah, Violin - Jeff Ballard, Drums - Charlie Bishart, Violin, Strings Concertmaster - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Dan Coleman, Orchestra Leader, Orchestral Conductor - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator - Andrew Radford, Bassoon - Amen Ksajikian, Cello - Michael Valero, Double Bass
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Suzie Katayama, Orchestral Contractor - Matt Funes, Viola - Joshua Redman, Tenor Saxophone - Matt Chamberlain, Percussion - Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Bells, Piano, Writer, Orchestration, MainArtist - Oscar Hidalgo, Double Bass - Caroline Campbell, Violin - Andrew Picken, Viola - Julian Hallmark, Violin - Sara Parkins, Violin - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Steven Becknell, Horn - Dan Kelley, Horn - Sue Ranney, Double Bass - Gerardo Hilera, Violin - Martha Lippi, Cello - Rudolph Stein, Cello - Vladimir Polimatidi, Violin - Stefanie Fife, Cello - Timothy Eckert, Double Bass - Robert Peterson, Violin - Michele Richards, Violin - Allen Savedoff, Contra Bassoon - Timothy Landauer, Cello - Dorian Cheah, Violin - Jeff Ballard, Drums, Percussion - Bob Becker, Viola - Charlie Bishart, Violin, Strings Concertmaster - Phillip Yao, Horn - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Dan Coleman, Orchestra Leader, Orchestral Conductor - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Carole Kleister-Castillo, Viola - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator - Andrew Radford, Bassoon - Amen Ksajikian, Cello - Phillip Vaiman, Violin - Quaing (John) Wang, Viola
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Joshua Redman, Soprano Saxophone, Hand Clap - Matt Chamberlain, Percussion - Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Piano, Writer, Hand Clap, MainArtist - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Jeff Ballard, Percussion, Hand Clap - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Dan Coleman, Hand Clap - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Joshua Redman, Tenor Saxophone - Matt Chamberlain, Drums - Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Piano, Writer, Pump Organ, MainArtist - Larry Grenadier, Upright Bass - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Piano, Writer, MainArtist - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Jeff Ballard, Drums - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Joshua Redman, Soprano Saxophone - Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Piano, Writer, MainArtist - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Suzie Katayama, Orchestral Contractor - Matt Funes, Viola - Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Writer, Orchestration, MainArtist - Oscar Hidalgo, Double Bass - Caroline Campbell, Violin - Andrew Picken, Viola - Julian Hallmark, Violin - Sara Parkins, Violin - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Steven Becknell, Horn - Dan Kelley, Horn - Sue Ranney, Double Bass - Gerardo Hilera, Violin - Martha Lippi, Cello - Rudolph Stein, Cello - Vladimir Polimatidi, Violin - Stefanie Fife, Cello - Timothy Eckert, Double Bass - Robert Peterson, Violin - Michele Richards, Violin - Allen Savedoff, Contra Bassoon - Timothy Landauer, Cello - Dorian Cheah, Violin - Bob Becker, Viola - Charlie Bishart, Violin, Strings Concertmaster - Phillip Yao, Horn - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Dan Coleman, Orchestra Leader, Orchestral Conductor - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Carole Kleister-Castillo, Viola - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator - Andrew Radford, Bassoon - Amen Ksajikian, Cello - Phillip Vaiman, Violin - Quaing (John) Wang, Viola
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Suzie Katayama, Orchestral Contractor - Matt Funes, Viola - Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Writer, Orchestration, MainArtist - Oscar Hidalgo, Double Bass - Caroline Campbell, Violin - Andrew Picken, Viola - Julian Hallmark, Violin - Sara Parkins, Violin - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Steven Becknell, Horn - Dan Kelley, Horn - Sue Ranney, Double Bass - Gerardo Hilera, Violin - Martha Lippi, Cello - Rudolph Stein, Cello - Vladimir Polimatidi, Violin - Stefanie Fife, Cello - Timothy Eckert, Double Bass - Robert Peterson, Violin - Michele Richards, Violin - Allen Savedoff, Contra Bassoon - Timothy Landauer, Cello - Dorian Cheah, Violin - Bob Becker, Viola - Charlie Bishart, Violin, Strings Concertmaster - Phillip Yao, Horn - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Dan Coleman, Orchestra Leader, Orchestral Conductor - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Carole Kleister-Castillo, Viola - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator - Andrew Radford, Bassoon - Amen Ksajikian, Cello - Phillip Vaiman, Violin - Quaing (John) Wang, Viola
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Suzie Katayama, Orchestral Contractor - Matt Funes, Viola - Joshua Redman, Soprano Saxophone - Matt Chamberlain, Drums - Brad Mehldau, Arranger, Bells, Piano, Writer, Orchestration, MainArtist - Larry Grenadier, Upright Bass - Oscar Hidalgo, Double Bass - Caroline Campbell, Violin - Andrew Picken, Viola - Julian Hallmark, Violin - Sara Parkins, Violin - Robert Hurwitz, ExecutiveProducer - JON BRION, Producer, MixingEngineer - Steven Becknell, Horn - Dan Kelley, Horn - Sue Ranney, Double Bass - Gerardo Hilera, Violin - Martha Lippi, Cello - Rudolph Stein, Cello - Vladimir Polimatidi, Violin - Stefanie Fife, Cello - Timothy Eckert, Double Bass - Robert Peterson, Violin - Michele Richards, Violin - Allen Savedoff, Contra Bassoon - Timothy Landauer, Cello - Dorian Cheah, Violin - Jeff Ballard, Drums - Bob Becker, Viola - Charlie Bishart, Violin, Strings Concertmaster - Phillip Yao, Horn - Alan Yoshida, MasteringEngineer - Greg Koller, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Dan Coleman, Orchestra Leader, Orchestral Conductor - Tom Korkidis, ProductionCoordinator - Carole Kleister-Castillo, Viola - Eli Cane, ProductionCoordinator - Andrew Radford, Bassoon - Amen Ksajikian, Cello - Phillip Vaiman, Violin - Quaing (John) Wang, Viola
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
Album review
The Highway Rider is pianist and composer Brad Mehldau's second collaboration with enigmatic pop producer Jon Brion. The first was 2002's ambitious but tentative Largo. As a collaboration, The Highway Rider is much more confident by contrast. Mehldau’s most ambitious work to date, its 15 compositions are spread over two discs and 100 minutes. His trio --bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard -- is augmented by saxophonist Joshua Redman, drummer Matt Chamberlain, and a chamber orchestra conducted by Dan Coleman. The album is a narrative jazz suite, orchestrated and arranged by Mehldau, though it has much in common with classical and pop music, as well.
The group settings range from solo to quintet, with and without strings, all of it recorded live in studio. Redman's addition is welcome. “Don’t Be Sad” features his consoling tenor, Mehldau (on pump organ and piano), Grenadier, and both drummers with orchestra. It begins as a piano solo, languidly establishing a pace that begins to swing with gospel overtones. Later, Redman's lower-register blowing, strings, and winds carry it out joyfully. Brion adds drum‘n’bass overtones to the trio on the title track. The electronics are a narrative device designating motion; they accompany the gradually assertive knottiness in the post-bop lyric. Mehldau begins “The Falcon Will Fly Again” with a complex solo that touches on Latin grooves, even as Chamberlain and Ballard create an organic loop effect with hand percussion. Redman's soprano creates a contrapuntal melody extending the harmonic dialogue. Disc two’s lengthy “We’ll Cross the River Together” has quintet and orchestra engaging in a beautiful study of texture, color, and expansive harmonics with wildly divergent dynamics. It showcases Mehldau’s trademark pianistic elegance in counterpoint. Redman's deep blues tenor nearly weeps on “Sky Turning Grey (For Elliot Smith).” “Capriccio’'s Latin rhythms contrast ideally: Mehldau’s classical, gently dissonant motifs create an exploratory harmonic palette as Redman’s magnetic soprano playing joins Mehldau's in the last third, anchoring the complex melody. The closer, “Always Returning,” builds to a climax that incorporates themes from the cycle. Redman and Mehldau soar with the orchestra before they all close it in a whispering tone poem. By combining sophisticated -- yet accessible -- forms with jazz improvisation, The Highway Rider exceeds all expectations, giving jazz-classical crossover a good name for a change. It is Mehldau’s most ambitious, creatively unfettered, and deeply emotional work to date, and will stand as a high watermark in his catalog.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 15 track(s)
- Total length: 01:43:54
- Main artists: Brad Mehldau
- Label: Nonesuch
- Genre: Jazz Contemporary Jazz
© 2010 Nonesuch Records ℗ 2010 Nonesuch Records
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