{"id":8031,"date":"2026-08-30T20:36:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T20:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8031"},"modified":"2026-08-30T20:36:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T20:36:27","slug":"review-artists-gather-to-pay-tribute-to-late-great-music-hero-in-concert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8031","title":{"rendered":"Review: Artists gather to pay tribute to late great music hero in concert"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Brad Mehldau was a man on a mission.<\/p>\n

The jazz piano maestro, who has received as much acclaim as any artist working in the genre over the last 30 years, was looking to honor the memory and legacy of Elliott Smith, the late great indie-folk singer-songwriter who died in 2003 in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Read more They said it: Not passing the smell test<\/a><\/p>\n

This was personal for Mehldau, who was friends with Smith and even got the chance to accompany the Texas-born, Portland-raised talent to a number of gigs. Mehldau poured both his feelings and reverence for this artist into \u201cRide into the Sun,\u201d an incredibly moving and beautiful song cycle built mainly from Smith\u2019s own songbook.<\/p>\n

The album came out last year on the Nonesuch label and received rave reviews. Yet, Mehldau never fully performed the \u201cRide Into the Sun\u201d song cycle in concert until this past week, when the piano great and a large ensemble \u2014 including a number of artists who played on the record as well as a chamber orchestra of students from USC \u2014 revived the music of Smith during three highly anticipated shows in California.<\/p>\n

Following dates in San Diego and Los Angeles, Mehldau and company hit the Paramount Theatre in Oakland for the finale on Saturday (Aug. 29). It was nothing short of an transcendent evening of music that, while rooted based in jazz, seemed to properly evade any type of easy genre classification.<\/p>\n

The cast for this SFJAZZ-promoted show was superb, featuring Mehldau, Nickel Creek mandolin sensation Chris Thile, drummer Matt Chamberlain (who has set the beat for everyone from Pearl Jam to Bob Dylan as well as worked with Mehldau on a number or records), Folk Implosion\u2019s John Davis on bass and Grammy-winning guitarist Blake Mills (whose credits include Norah Jones, Lana Del Rey and Weezer). Sharing the stage with that crew was the album\u2019s producer, Dan Coleman, conducting the USC Thornton Chamber Virtuosi orchestra.<\/p>\n