something inside that was always denied

Hit the ground running, I say on occasion, if the mood strikes me and if I can get off my ass. Chop chop!

Brad Mehldau Trio, El Rey Theatre, January 19, 2006: The first show of the year! And how lucky am I that I get to see it with Heidi and Kande? I had barely taken in a full whiff of the SoCal smog when we were on the freeway, heading up to the Miracle Mile for the first of three shows on the agenda for the weekend.

My interest in Brad Mehldau can be explained in exactly two words that are so obvious I'm not even going to bother typing them, Google's blog search be damned. But interest is interest, right? Even if you aren't equipped to always know what you're interested in. That's my evasive way of saying that I'm woefully unqualified to say much about Brad's show except that it was supercool when I knew what he was doing--that is, for his renditions of "She's Leaving Home" and "Stormy Weather," as well as for a hypnotic bossa nova (according to Heidi) number. Brad claimed to have also performed "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and "Knives Out," but I can neither confirm nor deny those reports.

What was obvious was Brad's piano mastery and the variations he brought to each song. Also incredibly surprising was the audience, which skewed quite a bit younger than I expected. They were refreshingly reverent, even during his more abstract stretches, though I had no idea why they applauded some passages. Again, I know little of the jazz world, but judging by the way the listeners regarded him, he looks like a rock star to me.

See also:
» the Book of Brion 2 has landed