Last Tuesday while I was up in Castine Brad Mehldau's new record "Largo" was released. We took a drive to Bar Harbor to hang out and I checked the local record shop for a copy. They had not ordered it so there were none in stock. My friend Rick (a chef by trade and Berkley trained jazz bassist- now a hobby) did pick up a very cool record by Jeff "Tain" Watts. So I've been left to wonder what this new Jon Brion produced Brad Mehldau creation sounds like until today. I'm sitting here this morning drinking my coffee and waiting for the shops to open so I can go score a copy. Has anyone else heard this record yet? David if you're reading this have you heard it? You did seem interested to hear what a Jon Brion & Brad Mehldau collaboration would sound like when we spoke in June. I'll take this opportunity to thank you once again for informing me of the existance of Mr. Mehldau.

I've been a lover of jazz since I was in junior high school and the music teacher played "Kind Of Blue" for us. I'm guilty though of being one of those people who buy jazz records by all the old greats but I know very little about todays jazz scene. It's sort of like Dale's example of what happens when people of a particular age group go to the store and buy the new Stones record because it's a brand name and they know what they are buying. Well, I buy more jazz than anything else but I tend to collect the Davis, Coltrane, Evans, Monk, Coleman stuff because for one thing these discs are cheap and secondly I know what I'm gonna get. Why pay $18.99 for a record by Whosit Whatsisface when for $8.88 right next to it is a Coltrane album completely remastered with bonus tracks you've never heard? Jazz has no outlet on the radio in most areas and even in a city like Boston it's relegated to specific shows at specific hours. There's no all jazz all the time station. I'm not really bitching about this fact just surprised at it. My wife had never really paid much attention to jazz because growing up in Pennsylvania she never heard it. During her adult years she lived in France but focused on studying French literature. I was stunned when she told me she knew nothing about jazz and had lived in France. Now she plays nothing but jazz when she goes through my record collection. For people to fall in love with an artist or music they have to be exposed to it. When I hear people bitch about the state of rock music I like to tell them to go buy a jazz record. Not because jazz is better than rock but because most people complain about the fact that rock 'n' roll is just big business now. It's all about the benjamins! Well jazz is just about some amazing musicians exploring the music and themselves. It's not about the bottom line buck that can be made. Jazz is not a money maker for the big corporations that sell you your cd's. A guy like Brad Mehldau is still getting support from Warners but in reality I think that could end the moment some pencil pusher looks at his bottom line sales figures and points this out to an axe wielding exec.

Brad Mehldau is 32 years old. I'm 35. I can grow old listening to this guys music. I hope anyway. Heroin has been a hellhound on his trail I guess. I got a kick out of the fact that Mehldau was stunned to learn he had 6 days of studio time to work with Jon Brion on this new record. This is an eternity to a jazz musicain like Mehldau. In comparison rock 'n' rollers will book shitloads of studio time and work for months on their records and more often than not end up with nothing new or interesting to present us with. I'm not trying to say jazz musicians are better than rock musicians. I just mean it's funny to look at something like that.

Take everyones favorite punching bag around here Sheryl Crow. This woman has basically been reworking "Tuesday Night Music Club" every time she makes a new record. There's been no reason to listen to one of her records since that first release. John Mayer is in for an interesting ride I'd guess. I really don't like his record but I'll say this he better like it a hell of a lot because his record company is going to expect him to keep reworking it with each new release. The payoff if he does will be money and fame. The same could be said for Nora Jones because of her rapid rise to the top of the heap. I do like her record although I know a critic like Mick the Hobbit would say it's a bit too smooth and never changes tempo throughout. These two records by Jones and Mayer have some things in common. They are both very smooth and easy to digest...no odd twists or turns on them...nothing abrasive...every note is right where you would expect it to be. So they are a bit boring unless you find a quality about them that really strikes a chord with you.

Well, I've really just been rambling on here and I know there's no real Baerwald content in this post. It was David though that recommended Brad Mehldau to us all though. Here's an observation about David Baerwald: He's been sort of pigion-holed as this political writer by a lot of people but if you look at the big picture most of his songs are not political in nature. I think because "Triage" was such a powerful statement to those of us that have continued to follow him that it has cast a long shadow over everything he does. He has never been guilty of making the same record over again though. Each one of his releases has been unique and has had some sort of theme. This is cool because you never catch him writing down to suit an audience. His latest release does seem to be his most personal. It's interesting because I kind of figure the people that will pick-up on David Baerwald with this record will expect the same thing from him when he does something new. He never really does that though does he. So I'd expect something different the next time. Just please don't do a record of broadway show tunes! Well, Brad Mehldau is turning songs like Nick Drake's "Riverman" and Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" into standards for a new generation of jazz fans so I'm off to buy the new record.

Reg