Well, I guess it was just a matter of time. Pianist Denny Zeitlin just got the electric piano and keyboards out of his system, so now we’ve got the most influential modern guy these days, Brad Mehldau, and he’s gone on a side road by experimenting with synthesizers and the Fender Rhodes along with Mark Guiliana’s drums and “effects.” Where would we all be without Brian Eno, anyway?
I’m no newcomer to Mehldau, as I remember him as a sideman for Lee Konitz and Jimmy Cobb, and I was weaned on Headhunters and RTF, so there’s no acoustic snobbery here either. It’s just that the duos here seem like a casual jam together to figure out if anything really clicks. There’s a peculiar inside joke story on the title track and some background vocals that intermittently pop up, but mostly pieces such as “The Dreamer” and “Gainsbourg” seem like ideas pasted together. While “Elegy for Amelia E.” does have some thoughtful moments, the get together seems like a preparation for a bigger project, hopefully one that will seem a bit more enduring.
Nonesuch Records