© Andrea CanterEpic works are not for the faint-of-heart, and present challenges to composers, performers and audiences alike. Ideas need to flow convincingly, hold audience interest over a significant period of time, and showcase performers as well as composition. In creating his first orchestral work, pianist Brad Mehldau comes close to meeting these challenges in full. And even “close” merits the celebratory cigar.
The world premiere of the fully staged Highway Rider was performed November 5-6 at the Walker Art Center, with Meldau’s trio, guests Joshua Redman and Matt Chamberlain, and the St Paul Chamber Orchestra. If not a perfect 10, Highway Rider nevertheless signals Mehldau’s maturation as a composer of modern eclectic music with broad appeal.
Over the past decade plus, Mehldau has garnered consistent praise for both technical agility and a personal, typically introspective artistry. I’ve long admired both components of his music, but at the same time have been underwhelmed when his often-long solo improvisations turn so far inward that there is no room for conversation. Writing for many voices thus seems to serve Mehldau (and his audience) well, providing a context that demands interaction and thus greater movement of ideas to sustain the whole.
Complete on: http://jazzink.blogspot.com/2010/11/mehldau-mostly-in-motion-premier-of.html
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