Matt Pierson brought Mehldau onto the Warner Brothers label, and produced this date from 1996 and several subsequent trio recordings. “Matt had the idea of documenting the development of the trio with Larry and Jorge in a series of recordings,” says Mehldau. “He had the foresight that we were a band that would stay together – maybe more than I did at that time in fact.” The opening track, ‘Blame it on My Youth,’ marks the beginning of an approach to ballad playing unique to this the trio, characterized by a deeply felt empathy between the three players, a loose freedom in their collective rhythmic phrasing, and a certain rhapsodic quality in Mehldau’s melodic statements. The arrangement here of ‘I Didn’t Know What Time it Was’ is still a favorite encore piece in performances. Mehldau’s composistional voice continues to develop and is represented here as well, like on ‘Ron’s Place’, the moody waltz recently recorded by bassist Charlie Haden.

Track Listing:
Blame It On My Youth
I Didn’t Know What Time It Was
Ron’s Place
Blackbird
Lament For Linus
Mignon’s Song
I Fall In Love Too Easily
Lucid
Nobody Else But Me

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

Producers:
Matt Pierson