A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

JAZZ FOR PEOPLE WHO LOVE POP MUSIC: I do not recall that there has been much (any?) discussion of jazz on this blog, but I figured I would offer two suggestions that should appeal to all of us who love pop music. Both of these CDs feature piano trios.

Heralded pianist Brad Mehldau's "Day is Done" features covers of two Beatles tunes, "She's Leaving Home" from Sgt. Pepper's and "Martha My Dear" from The White Album, Radiohead's "Knives Out", Nick Drake's "Day Is Done", and Paul Simon's hit "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover". A comment on amazon sums things up:

“It's not merely that he has chops to burn, although that is certainly the case; it's that he finds unusual and serendipitous musical contexts to unfold and display his genius that other pianists fail to locate.”

I may in fact prefer a similar CD by David Hazeltine called “Modern Standards”, which features versions of “Yesterday”, “For the Love of You” by the Isley Brothers, and a swinging version of “How Deep is Your Love” that will make you rethink the original. While Mehldau has an occasional tendency to play in an astringent manner, I find every one of Hazeltine’s performances emotionally satisfying.