Ode by Brad Mehldau Trio

Mehldau has so many projects on the go that it came as something of a shock to note that this is his famous trio’s first visit to the studio in seven years. It’s also noteworthy that it’s the first all-originals trio album. There are some great, faster than usual pieces here that give Mehldau, Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard plenty of room to show they can do more than deconstruct the classics in a languorous and hypnotic manner.

They do, however, give us come classic transcendent slow Brad jams: ‘Dream Sketch’ in particular is unforgettable: a cascading, irresistibly shuffling monster of a tune. The recording is also worthy of comment – Larry Grenadier’s thunderous bass sound must be the envy of his peers.

Richard Mohr is a friend of Readings