Brad Mehldau

I've had a minor jazz thing going on since I was first introduced to jazz in my grade school music class...you know, the one where you sang songs about chicken noodle soup and eagles...yeah, that one. I got into it so much that when I was seven years old I saved up all my money until I could afford to go buy Louis Armstrong's greatest hits - my first cd purchase. So I got excited when I came upon Brad Mehldau. I first heard him due to an article on Pitchfork about Jon Brion (who produced Mehldau's album "Largo"). The thing is, everytime I listen to Mehldau, it's like the first time I listened to Thelonious Monk - I get chills down my spine that make me wonder how discord and confusion sound so darn good. And the coolest thing is the covers he does. Don't get me wrong - I dig his originals but the fact that he covers the Beatles, Nick Drake and Radiohead really does something for me. Check these two out and see if you don't go buy an album:

Brad Mehldau - Paranoid Android

Brad Mehldau - Wave-Mother Nature's Son