Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz with Brad Mehldau is an album by jazz pianists Marian McPartland and Brad Mehldau. The recording was released as a CD in 2007.[4]

Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz with Brad Mehldau
Studio album by Marian McPartland, Brad Mehldau
Released	2007
Recorded	September 1996
Genre	Jazz
Length	56:03
Label	Concord/ Jazz Alliance
Producer	Shari Hutchinson
Brad Mehldau chronology
The Art of the Trio Volume One (1996) Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz with Brad Mehldau (1996) Live at the Village Vanguard: The Art of the Trio Volume Two (1997)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
PopMatters	[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[3]

Music and recording

The contents of the album were first recorded for NPR broadcast in September 1996.[1] The radio broadcast was one in a long series of Piano Jazz programs that featured jazz pianist Marian McPartland in conversation and playing with another musician.[5] The material played is a combination of Mehldau originals and standards.[2]

The two pianists play both individually and together.[2] On "From This Moment On", Mehldau "utilizes multiple lines simultaneously rather than simply soloing against standard chord changes." He uses imaginative voicings on "When I Fall in Love".[6] "McPartland's solos include moving renditions of 'I Get Along Without You Very Well' and the less frequently performed 'I See Your Face Before Me'".[6] They duet on "Stella By Starlight" and "Our Love Is Here to Stay", and "a lively improvised blues to wrap up the date."[6] During the conversations, "McPartland gets him to talk about some of his core concepts: the 'voice lead' (with 'several voices going at one time'), the implicit rather than stated beat (which requires 'keeping the pulse in my head'), and 'compositionally compact' thematic development."[5]

Track listing

1. "Conversation" – 3:35
2. "From This Moment On" (Cole Porter) – 4:44
3. "Conversation" – 4:19
4. "Ron's Place" (Brad Mehldau) – 4:30
5. "Conversation" – 1:22
6. "Stella by Starlight" (Ned Washington, Victor Young) – 4:23
7. "Conversation" – 1:55
8. "I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)" (Hoagy Carmichael) – 4:02
9. "Conversation" – 2:23
10. "When I Fall in Love" (Edward Heyman, Victor Young) – 4:35
11. "Conversation" – 2:59
12. "(Our) Love Is Here to Stay" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 5:28
13. "Conversation" – 0:58
14. "I See Your Face Before Me" (Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz) – 3:54
15. "Conversation" – 3:34
16. "No Particular Blues" (Marian McPartland, Mehldau) – 3:16
17. "Conversation" – 0:06

Personnel

• Marian McPartland – piano, speech
• Brad Mehldau – piano, speech

References