Brad Mehldau Trio :: Anything Goes

BRAD MEHLDAU TRIO: ANYTHING GOES

Anything Goes was recorded on a two day session in September of 2002. Two records came out of the date, one of all originals, the other of standards and covers. ‘Anything Goes’ is the latter. Mehldau returned to the studio with his longstanding trio with Larry Grenadier on bass and Jorge Rossy on drums. The trio teams up with two other old colleagues as well here: Matt Pierson, who initially signed Mehldau to Warner Brothers and produced several of the earlier trio records, and James Farber, the renowned recording engineer who also recorded several of the trio records.

Mehldau says, “On this one I was thinking a little about what we got to on ‘Songs’ as a starting point: Focusing more on a beautiful sonic experience, honing in on a singular interpretation of the material, trying to nail the sentiment of the songs in my view, and what the other guys bring to them. The songs don’t stretch out as much as you’ll find on the live records; the emotion is more compressed and hopefully more direct. Another thing about this record that I like is that it has a certain relaxed quality in the trio’s ensemble playing rhythmically that we hadn’t achieved before. I’m really proud of this one.”

The title of the record Anything Goes comes from the Cole Porter tune, heard here in a characteristic lopey 5/4 feel. It’s also an appropriate sentiment for the wide range of tunes in this collection. There’s a rousing version of the more obscure ‘Skippy’ from Thelonious Monk. Three ballads are spread throughout the record, heard in condensed, heartfelt interpretations, like the wistful take on Lerner and Lowe’s classic from ‘My Fair Lady’, ‘I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face’. The trio’s version of Paul Simon’s ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’ has all the nostalgia and sweetness the lyric conveys, but Mehldau discovers a layer of trouble and darkness beneath the song in his short but intense so. Radiohead’s ‘Everything in It’s Right Place’ finds the trio in its meditative mode. Here, Grenadier establishes a hypnotic low end to the sonic texture that sets the course for the entire tune, never wavering.

Track Listing:
Get Happy
Dreamsville
Anything Goes
Tres Palabras
Skippy
Nearness of You
Still Crazy After All These Years
Everything In Its Right Place
Smile
I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face

Musicians:
Brad Mehldau (piano)
Larry Grenadier (bass)
Jorge Rossy (drums)

Producers:
Brad Mehldau and Matt Pierson

Brad Mehldau Trio: Anything Goes
Nonesuch Records
Released 2004

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With Anything Goes a more mature, reflective Brad Mehldau is back where he started almost seven years ago with his trio soulmates, Jorge Rossy (drums) and Larry Grenadier (bass). On their sixth trio disc, there aren’t any original tunes, but Mehldau is at his best expanding old favorites such as “Nearness of You,” “Anything Goes” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” He’s improved upon his old tricks of extracting harmony, gently changing tempo, and playing loose with time signatures; his excellent rhythm section, especially Grenadier’s strong bass lines, gives him the foundation and freedom to explore and improvise as he chooses. It all adds up to one of his best discs, and that says a lot, considering how prolific he has been outside the trio format in his relatively short career.
– All About Jazz