Brad Shepik - Human Activity: Dream of the Possible - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Mehldau performs four preludes, from a thirty-seven-year span of Gabriel Fauré's career, as well as a reduction of an excerpt from the Adagio movement of his Piano Quartet in G Minor. Here Mehldau's four compositions that Fauré inspired are presented in a group, sandwiched between two sections featuring the French composer's works. Discussing the Après Fauré album in his note, Mehldau says InchIf the sublime foreshadows our mortality, this music might communicate the austerity of death-Fauré's as it approached him, but also the apprehension of our own. We find a kinship with the composer finally, in the form of a question that he tossed off into the future, to us. I have composed four pieces to accompany Fauré's music here, to share the way I have engaged with Fauré's question, with you, the listener.InchThis is similar to my After Bach project,Inch he continues. InchThe connections are less overt, but Fauré's harmonic imprint is on all four. There is also a textural influence, in terms of how he presented his musical material pianistically-he exploited the instrument's sonority masterfully, as an expressive means. So, for example, in my first 'Prelude,' melody is welded to a continuous arpeggiation, both part of it and hovering above it; in my 'Nocturne,' it is possible to hear the harkening chordal approach in the opening of Fauré's No. 12.Inch Album Tracks 1. Nocturne No. 13 in B Minor, Op. 119 (1921) 2. Nocturne No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 36 (C. 1884) 3. Nocturne No. 12 in E Minor, Op. 107 (1915) 4. Prelude 5. Caprice 6. Nocturne 7. Vision 8. Nocturne No. 7 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 74 (1898) 9. Piano Quartet No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 45 (C. 1887) III. Adagio Non Troppo (Extract)

Album Tracks 1. Mr. Charles 2. Spring Peeper 3. Wondertramp 4. Can't Know How 5. All Ocean Views 6. Glory Days 7. It's All So 8. Love for Sale

2018 . On Seymour Reads the Constitution!, Brad Mehldau Trio performs three Mehldau originals combined with interpretations of pop songs (Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson), jazz tunes (Elmo Hope, Sam Rivers), and one work from the American songbook (Frederick Loewe's InchAlmost Like Being in LoveInch). Brad Mehldau moved to New York City and first came to prominence as a member of current tag mate Joshua Redman's quartet in the 1990s before becoming a bandleader himself. His trio, which tours the world extensively, made eight acclaimed recordings for Warner Bros. The pianist's time with Nonesuch has been equally productive. Album Tracks 1. Spiral 2. Seymour Reads the Constitution 3. Almost Like Being in Love 4. De-Dah 5. Friends 6. Ten Tune 7. Great Day 8. Beatrice