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ANYTHING GOES
(Warner Bros.)
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Well, not anything. For the past few years, pianist Mehldau has been slipping provocative new original pieces into his live trio performances, and none of those originals appears here. But the selection of covers is typically broad, from the Cole Porter title track to Radiohead. And you get what you pay for in a Mehldau trio set: the pianist’s relaxed independence between right-hand lyrical melodic outpourings and left-hand rhythmic variety, his broad harmonic range, and the trio’s overall rhythmic elasticity. The opening "Get Happy" is typical: Mehldau grounds the piece in an off-kilter ostinato that recurs throughout the odd-meter arrangement, not taking off into high-velocity 4/4 swing until after a wide-ranging cadenza — a full five minutes into this nearly-10-minute performance. That’s a lot of tension before the release. Mehldau seems partial to Radiohead for the same quality of expectation created by suspended, static harmonies, but "Everything in Its Right Place" otherwise passes through without making an impression. There’s more emotional payoff in Charlie Chaplin’s "Smile," where another odd left-hand device counters the sunny melody with nagging rhythm and doubting dissonances. In a Jordan Hall concert a couple of seasons back, the trio sustained the rhythm of Osvaldo Farres’s bolero "Tres Palabras" until the tension was almost unbearable. The reading here is less dramatic, but it gives you a feeling for Mehldau’s ability to create the illusion of multiple voices — of more than two hands. Paul Simon’s "Still Crazy After All These Years" sounds downright hymnal, and Monk’s "Skippy" is appropriately driving and linear.
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