{"id":7724,"date":"2026-08-25T18:09:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T18:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7724"},"modified":"2026-08-25T18:09:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T18:09:18","slug":"brad-mehldau-talks-about-complicated-take-on-elliott-smiths-unique-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7724","title":{"rendered":"Brad Mehldau talks about complicated take on Elliott Smith’s unique songs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As a man who\u2019s wrestled with his own demons, pianist Brad Mehldau believes that an artist\u2019s work should be evaluated on its own terms, separate from its creator.<\/p>\n

Read more Pac-12 (legacy) bowl forecast: Another CFP appearance for Oregon as Washington, Arizona and USC scramble for top-tier bids<\/a><\/p>\n

But he acknowledges that it\u2019s difficult to maintain a pure perspective with the music of Elliott Smith, the troubled, harmonically sophisticated singer\/songwriter who died in 2004 at the age of 34 under undetermined circumstances. The fact Mehldau performed with Smith several times makes his relationship to his music that much more complicated, lending another layer of psychological depth to the pianist\u2019s gorgeous Smith-centric 2025 album \u201cRide Into the Sun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a clich\u00e9 to conflate the artist with his art, and it\u2019s something I\u2019ve always tried to resist, having struggled myself with substance abuse around the time when I met Elliott Smith,\u201d said Mehldau, 55, on a recent phone call. \u201cBut I knew going in that you can\u2019t just unravel those two things. It\u2019s both\/and.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mehldau presents the ambitiously cinematic \u201cRide Into the Sun\u201d song cycle for the first time on a three-city California tour that concludes Aug. 29 at Oakland\u2019s Paramount Theatre. Presented by SFJAZZ, the concert features several of the album\u2019s key collaborators, including the Punch Brothers\u2019 Chris Thile on mandolin and vocals, Blake Mills on guitar and vocals, bassist John Davis and drummer Mike Chamberlain. They\u2019re joined by the USC Thornton Chamber Virtuosi conducted by Dan Coleman.<\/p>\n

One of the most respected and influential jazz pianists of his generation, Mehldau is best known for leading a celebrated trio. But he\u2019s explored far and wide, composing art songs, piano reveries, a concerto, and uncategorizable chamber works while interpreting Bach,\u00a0Faur\u00e9, and the Beatles.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d honed solo versions of several Smith tunes over the years, and when touring as a duo with Thile the two musicians had talked about making an Elliott Smith songbook record together. But it was a glimpse into the abyss during the first year of the pandemic that provided new impetus to tackle the project.<\/p>\n