Brad Mehldau, Kevin Hays, Patrick Zimmerli - Modern Music (2011)

Modern Music, a collaboration between pianists Brad Mehldau and Kevin Hays and composer/arranger Patrick Zimmerli is out this week on Nonesuch Records. The album features pieces written by each of the three musicians as well as works by Steve Reich, Ornette Coleman, and Philip Glass, performed by the two pianists in arrangements by Zimmerli.Mehldau and Hays have been friends for some years and both played early in their career with Joshua Redman, a musical friendship Mehldau has rekindled lately on tour and on last year’s album Highway Rider. Zimmerli is a mutual friend and played in the same high school programme as Mehldau back in their Connecticut days, with Zimmerli going on to make a career within the parameters of the contemporary - classical music world. Brought in to the project initially as producer he offered repertoire ideas including settings of Steve Reich’s ‘Music for 18 Musicians’ and Glass’ ‘String Quartet No 5’, and contributed title track ‘Modern Music’ plus other tunes. Mehldau’s ‘Unrequited’ which appears on the recently released Live In Marciac album is also on Modern Music but Mehldau in publicity material comments that this album was a challenge in that the improvisation was often not in his or Hays’ comfort zone. “On ‘Modern Music’ there’s a part that calls for us to improvise in the right hand while playing something written in the left hand.

Tracklist:

1. Crazy Quilt
2. Unrequited
3. Generatrix
4. Celtic Folk Melody
5. Excerpt from Music for 18 Musicians
6. Lonely Woman
7. Modern Music
8. Elegia
9. Excerpt from String Quartet #5