SFJAZZ presents the Brad Mehldau Trio featuring Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier
Robert M. Miner Auditorium
SFJAZZ Center, 205 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA
7:00 PM, Sunday, April 7, 2019

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[7:05 PM lights down, announcements, band out]

1. [7:06 PM] Little Person »
2. [7:09 PM] Gentle John
3. [7:16 PM] Beatrice
4. [7:32 PM] And I Love Her
   [7:43 PM; comments and back-announce from Brad]
5. [7:46 PM] Jeff Groove
6. [7:56 PM] I Should Care
   [8:10 PM; set ends, all off]
   
   1st Encore
7. [8:11 PM] Green M&Ms
   [8:21 PM; bow and then off]
   
   2nd Encore
8. [8:22 PM] Autumn Leaves
   [8:31 PM done for good; 8:32 PM all off]

• Jeff Ballard: drums;
• Larry Grenadier: contrabass;
• Brad Mehldau: piano.

I enjoyed tonight's show, and I was surprised to recognize both Gentle John and Beatrice – of course, I should clarify that I didn't really remember the song titles (given after the fact by Brad), but that I caught the transition at the end of Little Person, and jotted “old Brad piece” for a placeholder, followed by “standard” when they rolled into Beatrice. Yeah, patting myself on the back again. You da man!

I wasn't so taken with Jeff Groove – it seemed to me as if the players were out of sync with one another (time-wise) throughout the piece, which gave it a very off-kilter feel. Perhaps that's what they were after, I dunno. It really bothered me that Larry wasn't playing in time with either of the other guys (not that they were playing together, only that I was listening mainly to the bass line, and then wondering why it didn't match with what either Brad or Jeff was doing). Late in the tune, it seemed to me as if Brad dropped in a quick riff from 3rd Stone from the Sun. Might have been imagining things there!

I was kind of surprised when Brad stood up to leave after I Should Care, and for a moment, I thought, “Oh, it must be a two set show tonight” … but that thought was crushed as the house lights stayed down and the guys came back out for the first encore. And giving us a second encore was another surprise, but maybe that was to make up for what would have otherwise been a pretty short show? I wonder how long the previous nights ran…

Today's fuzzy pictures come from ol' squinty!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2019 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2019 event list! ☸ On to the next event!