On Sunday 16 March, the seventh edition of the 1906 Jazz Season kicks off with a spectacular concert from the Brad Melhdau Trio at the Teatro Principal in Santiago de Compostela.
The Art of the Trio, whose first album came out in 1996, wasn’t a pretentious title chosen by a record label for the bursting of a young musician onto the jazz scene, but the most precise sentence to define the excellence with which Mehldau (Florida, 1970) had conceived the new way of understanding the classic trio and that, afterwards, would become part of the canon. The pianist’s symbol of identity is still the astonishing independence of his left hand, a talent which, far from being used as a mere demonstration of virtuosity, is the substance of his musical structure. Few jazz pianists can integrate into their discourse, substituting the classic chord blocks, a left hand that can phrase, sing and weave a wonderful counterbalance to the ideas of its twin. Also, his concept of repertoire, merging standards and pop (Radiohead, The Beatles, Nirvana, Richard Ashcroft, etc) means that the musician from Florida has personalised, with impeccable seriousness, the key idea that any musical piece deserves a jazz reading.
Four times nominated for a Grammy, and highly praised in Europe, Mehldau has also explored other facets of his musical personality: song (with Renee Fleming and Anne Sophie von Otter), piano and orchestra compositions, the possibilities of electronic music (in his duo Mehliana), and has played with Metheny, Brecker, Shorter, Konitz, Scofield…
The trio is still, however, the shelter in which he expresses himself with most force. Jeff Ballard, who joined in 2005 to take the place of Jorge Rossy, has been the only modification to an ensemble that will soon turn twenty, and whose latest project, Where do you start? (2013), has just been awarded jazz record of the year by the Academie du Jazz. The proposal is, with a current impressive maturity, art without palliatives, art in pure state, the art of the trio in its most sublime expression.
1906 Jazz Season
Our 1906 beer hosts three very intense months with a total of 50 concerts of the best jazz in some of the best jazz clubs in Spain. The 1906 Jazz Season will reach 12 cities and 16 venues with such quality artists as Brad Melhdau, Kenny Garrett, Avishai Cohen and Atomic, along with many others.
The 1906 Jazz Season has always been characterised for setting jazz in its natural environment, jazz clubs, where the 1906 small great moments that the brand boasts can be fully enjoyed. In this sense, in Galicia we will be able to enjoy concerts from this Season in A Coruña (Jazz Filloa), Santiago (Dado Dada), Vigo (Xancarajazz), Lugo (Clavicémbalo), Ourense (Café Latino) and Ferrol (Bla Bla Café).
The music programme will also reach Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao and Murcia, in addition to Oviedo which is a new addition to the Season. Also, the concerts will include venues like the Teatro Principal (Santiago de Compostela) and Teatro Lara (Madrid).
Brad Meldhau Trio Concerts
Teatro Principal (Santiago de Compostela) Sunday 16 March / 8pm
Teatro Lara (Madrid) Monday 17 March / 9pm
