Although known for his intimate and finely rendered jazz,
Brad Mehldau
has long showcased his interest in digging deep into songs by pop and rock bands. It's a concept he puts on full display with 2023's
Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays the Beatles
. Recorded in a live solo session at Philharmonie de Paris, the album finds
Mehldau
investigating a handful of his favorite tunes by the iconic British rock group. While jazz became his life's calling, the pianist was initially drawn to play music listening to rock artists like
Billy Joel
,
Supertramp
Led Zeppelin
, and
Steely Dan
. He has built upon these early inspirations throughout his career, offering distinctive takes on songs by
Radiohead
Nick Drake
, and yes,
the Beatles
, as on his 2005 trio album
Day Is Done
. He has also pushed the envelope of his own jazz compositions towards more maverick rock and classical sounds, as on his ambitious 2022 album
Jacob's Ladder
.
Your Mother Should Know
is closer in vibe to the former, with
treating each
Beatles
tune as he might a jazz standard, reconsidering the harmony of the song and using the melody as jumping-off point for his own bold, endlessly lyrical improvisations. What's particularly enjoyable about
's approach is how he keeps each song recognizable while making it his own, as on "I Am the Walrus," where he implies
John Lennon
's throaty psychedelia with tiny moments of dissonance. Similarly, the already lullaby-like "For No One" is given a delicate, dancerly quality in the swinging
Paul McCartney
style. Perhaps most compelling is his bittersweet reading of "Here, There and Everywhere," transforming the song into a softly moving ballad that evokes the classic '60s style of
Bill Evans
. ~ Matt Collar