MASSEY HALL PRESENTS BRAD MEHLDAU TRIO

Brad Mehldau, piano / Larry Grenadier, bass / Jeff Ballard, drums

Saturday, April 5, 2008, at 8 PM

George Weston Recital Hall / Toronto Centre for the Arts

Tickets $59.50 - $39.50 – Call 416-872-4255 or visit Roy Thomson Hall Box Office

www.masseyhall.com


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Toronto, ON. March 11, 2008

Brad Mehldau is “universally admired as one of the most adventurous pianists to arrive on the jazz scene in years,” says the Los Angeles Times. In 2006, Brad Mehldau was the opening solo artist for the Wayne Shorter Quartet at Massey Hall. He returns for a full evening with his acclaimed Brad Mehldau Trio on Saturday, April 5, at 8:00 pm at the George Weston Recital Hall. The performance coincides with the release of the trio’s new 2-CD album on Nonesuch, titled Brad Mehldau Trio: Live. The album, set for release on March 24, was recorded live at the Village Vanguard in New York City during the trio’s residency at the venerable jazz club in October 2006.

The compelling artistry of classically trained jazz pianist-composer Brad Mehldau has propelled the young American to the forefront of his generation and elicited frequent comparisons to piano legend Keith Jarrett. Since the mid-90s Mehldau has recorded and performed worldwide as a solo performer and with the Brad Mehldau Trio, featuring bassist Larry Genadier and drummer Jorge Rossy. In 2005, drummer Jeff Ballard replaced Rossy in the trio.

Mehldau has also worked and recorded with a number of great jazz musicians, including Joshua Redman, Charlie Haden, Lee Konitz, Wayne Shorter, John Scofield and Charles Lloyd. He has also collaborated with guitarists Peter Bernstein and Kurt Rosenwinkel, tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, and most recently with guitarist Pat Metheny, who says: "Mehldau is the most exciting pianist to come along since Herbie Hancock."

Mehldau’s debut album Introducing Brad Mehldau was released in 1995 by Warner Records; and between 1997 and 2001 the Brad Mehldau Trio released an impressive series of five recordings on the label, titled The Art of the Trio. His first album for Nonesuch, Brad Mehldau Live in Tokyo, was released in 2004; and in 2005, the label released its first album with the Brad Mehldau Trio, Day is Done (also the first album with Jeff Ballard on drums). This was followed by the trio’s House On Hill in 2006, and Metheny Mehldau Quartet in 2007 (with trio members Grenadier and Ballard).

Brad Mehldau’s music has appeared in several films, including Stanley Kubrick’s "Eyes Wide Shut" and Wim Wender’s "Million Dollar Hotel". He also composed the original soundtrack for the French film, "Ma femme est une actrice". In 2005, he appeared in concert with the acclaimed American soprano, Renée Fleming, at Carnegie Hall, and the program included two new works he wrote for voice and piano. The songs had been commissioned for the occasion by Carnegie Hall, and were subsequently recorded and released by Nonesuch on the album, Love Sublime, in 2006.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Liz Parker
Publicity Manager
email: liz.parker@rth-mh.com

THE CORPORATION OF MASSEY HALL AND ROY THOMSON HALL,
60 Simcoe Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5J 2H5




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