Eric Alexander (Saxophonist)

Despite being classically trained from a young age, Mehldau’s main interest lay in the jazz genre and played in the Hall High School jazz band of Hartford, Connecticut, U.S., later winning the Berklee College of Music’s Best All-Around Musician Award. After studying under Fred Hersch, Junior Mance and Jimmy Cobb amongst others at New York’s New School for Social Research, Cobb hired Mehldau to play in his band Cobb’s Mob.

The pianist later formed his own trio and made his recording debut with the Warner Bros. issued “Introducing Brad Mehldau” in 1995, followed by “Art of the Trio, Vol. 1, 2, & 3” in 1997. He subsequently released “Elegiac Cycle” and "Art of the Trio, Vol. 4: Back at the Vanguard” in 1999, and “Places” in 2000. Wanting to expand his musicianship and defy genre lines, Mehldau recorded “Largo” in which he adapted himself to unusual and challenging lineup situations. “Anything Goes” and “Live in Tokyo” arrived in 2004, followed by “Day is Gone” in 2005, “House on Hill” and “Love Sublime” in 2006, and “Quartet” in 2007. These releases exposed the musician’s extensive, if not relentless recording schedule, which Mehldau matched with his live performances at the some of the world’s most revered music and jazz festivals.

Along with his tried and tested trio, drummer Matt Chamberlain, saxophonist Joshua Redman, and a small chamber orchestra, Mehldau issued the album “Highway Rider” in 2010 – an ambitious double-disc CD of new compositions. After being awarded the esteemed Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair for the season of 2010-2011, the pianist released two live albums “Live in Marciac” and “Live at Birdland”, and the collaborative album “Modern Music” with pianist Kevin Hays and composer Patrick Zimmerli.

Mehldau has also made a name for himself by taking influence from the rock genre and has been known to compose elaborate jazz pieces to existing material including the songs “Bittersweet Symphony”, “Smells Like Teen Sprit” and Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android”.

In 2011 Mehldau embarked on a world tour, and in support of his label Nonesuch issued the box set “Art of the Trio Recordings: 1996-2001” featuring past and unreleased material from Mehldau’s trio. A year later the musician, alongside the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra performed “Variations for Piano and Orchestra on a Melancholy Theme” throughout Europe, and the U.S. the year after. In another collaboration, this time with drummer Mark Guiliana, the duo operated as a synthesizer-orientated pairing under the name “Mehliana” later releasing the album “Mehliana: Taming the Dragon” in February 2014.