HOUSE ON HILL - BRAD MEHLDAU
In his prolific decade since leaving Joshua Redman’s quartet, Mehldau has proved as comfortable with the masters as he has with the songbooks of the Beatles, Nick Drake and Radiohead. The all-original “House on Hill” is the final recording from Mehldau’s well-regarded trio with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy. Most tracks hail from the same 2002 sessions that produced the covers record “Anything Goes.” Like its brother, “House” finds the trio in sparkling, often exhilarating spirits, but with a steady reliance on theme where previous works occasionally spun off into distant orbits. “August Ending” wastes no time conjuring up a looming, circular piano riff, and Mehldau’s busy fingers in “Backyard” dance all over a melancholic bassline. Mehldau writes that “House” represents the apex of what the trio achieved, and it’s easy to see where he’s coming from. Billboard
