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In 2012 the Brad Mehldau trio released two albums, “Ode” and “Where do You Start”. With its lineup of all original tunes, “Ode” seemed like the heavier album compared to “Where do You Start”, which consisted of a mish-mash of modern pop tunes, hard bop standards and a couple originals that are mostly jam sessions. But its worthwhile to give “Where do You Start” a timely re-listen though, because although “Ode” may still be the stronger album, there are plenty of gems on “Start” as well. As mentioned earlier, this is an eclectic album, with about four moody pop ballads, a couple hard bop standards, two Latin jazz tracks and a couple of excellent Mehldauish modal grooves. Most of the songs are good, but fans of Brad’s ‘jass’ playing could probably use a few less of the pop tunes.
The two best tracks,“Got Me Wrong” and “Jam”, are both superb modal jam sessions on which Mehldau channels a timeless early 60s coffeehouse groove with a modern fracturing in his solos. All through this album, Mehldau’s ability to spin original solos that grab your ears and don’t let go is in full effect. Brad’s elastic sense of rhythm, uncanny ability to separate his hands, plus his ability to play phrases that sound like no else continue to make him one of the most interesting musicians today. Elsewhere on this album, its great to hear Brad spin some original solos on hard bop standards by Clifford Brown and Sonny Rollins, Brad doesn’t cover material like this all that often, but he can play a very intense Bud Powell flavored neo-bop.
A good portion of this album is taken up with the sort of moody pop playing that Brad is famous for. Certainly he is the master of this sort of languid phrasing and impressionist sounds, but with so many good energetic tracks on here too, sometimes you wish the more droopy numbers would move along and make way for another jam session. This isn’t Brad’s best album, but his playing on here is outstanding and there are enough good tracks that his fans will probably want to pick this up. Those who wish to hear more serious jazz playing from Brad and his trio may want to check out his “Art of the Trio” series.