Here is the first of three albums by Mehldau’s trio recorded live at the Village Vanguard, this one from a week engagement there in 1997. Mehldau comments on the legendary club, “Something about that room inspires us every time we’re there, and we’re able to go to some different places musically together in a week’s time. I always end the week there feeling like we had a growth spurt as a band.”

This collection is characterized by extremes – either super fast tempos or ballads, with only one exception, the medium swinger, ‘Monk’s Dream.’ The record, like the two subsequent live dates, stands in contrast to the studio albums – the trio is more exploratory, stretching out the material of the standards and abstracting the melody, harmony and rhythm to a much greater extent. “One thing in particular we were focusing on in this period together was a way of approaching fast tempos in a looser fashion, with me phrasing longer, slower phrases through the meter. This is the first record where Larry found a different way to approach those tempos, buoying Jorge and I with a more open-ended thing that nonetheless acted as an anchor. That approach of his has continued to develop over the years and is fundamental to our sound.”

Track Listing:
It’s Alright With Me
Young and Foolish
Monk’s Dream
The Way You Look Tonight
Moon River
Countdown

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

Producer:
Matt Pierson