Back in the 70s, LA was brimming with jazz pianists making an extra buck by playing in cocktail bars. You had guys like Page Cavanaugh at the Money Tree and Johnny Guarnieri at Tail of the Cock playing just about anything you’d request from the Swing and Bop era.
Mehldau, along with long time buds Larry Grenadier/b and Jeff Ballard/dr, take you to a relaxed late night lounge as they take on “requests” like “And I Love Her” and “These Foolish Things.” Mehldau displays his patented patience on these tunes, using silence and space as notes. Ballard and Grenadier add a jogger’s pulse to the gently swaying “I Concentrate on You” after Mehldau opens with an aria. The bop standard “Cheryl” has its chrome shined like a ’49 Buick, and he R&B classic “Since I Fell For You” is gloriously desultory.
There are a couple of surprises in Sir Paul McCartney’s “Valentine” and Jon Brion’s “Little Person” which would make the guests at the bar play the Blindfold Test. All in all, an impressive side of this generations most important pianist.
Nonesuch Records