Ride into the Sun

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Pianist and composer Brad Mehldau’s Ride into the Sun—a songbook record of music by the late singer, songwriter, and guitarist Elliott Smith—features performances by singer/guitarist Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear, singer/mandolinist Chris Thile, bassists Felix Moseholm and John Davis, drummer Matt Chamberlain, and a chamber orchestra led by Dan Coleman. The album's ten Elliott Smith songs are complemented by four Mehldau compositions inspired by him and interpretations of Big Star’s “Thirteen,” which Smith also covered, and “Sunday” by Nick Drake, whom Mehldau sees "in some ways as sort of Smith’s visionary grandfather.”

Description

Nonesuch Records releases pianist and composer Brad Mehldau’s Ride into the Sun—a songbook record of music by the late singer, songwriter, and guitarist Elliott Smith—on August 29, 2025. Featured musicians include singer/guitarist Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear); singer/mandolinist Chris Thile (Punch Brothers, Nickel Creek); bassists Felix Moseholm (Brad Mehldau Trio, Samara Joy) and John Davis (who also engineered and mixed the album); drummer Matt Chamberlain (Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Randy Newman); and a chamber orchestra led by Dan Coleman, who also conducted on Mehldau’s 2010 album Highway Rider. In-the-studio videos of the musicians recording the album tracks “Tomorrow Tomorrow” and “Better Be Quiet Now,” directed by Matthew Edginton, can be seen below.

Ride into the Sun’s ten Elliott Smith songs are complemented by four Mehldau compositions that he says are “inspired by, and reflect, Smith’s oeuvre.” Also included are interpretations of Big Star’s “Thirteen,” which Smith also covered, and “Sunday” by Nick Drake, who Mehldau says, “I look at in some ways as sort of Smith’s visionary grandfather.” 

Recalling how he first got to know Smith and his music, which has been a regular part of his repertoire for years, Mehldau said that after years living in New York, he moved to Los Angeles “and there was this wonderful scene of singer-songwriters that was congregating at a club called Largo. That included Elliott but it also included artists like Rufus Wainwright, Fiona Apple. And then other musicians who had been around for a while would come down every Friday night to sit in on a gig that was led by Jon Brion. I played behind Elliott on his own tunes with Jon. It felt to me like a kind of renaissance in songwriting that flourished for a number of years.”

“Elliott Smith masterfully rendered the dark/light admix not in the least through his distinct harmony,” Mehldau continues. “Specifically, he had a way of combining major and minor modes that was all his own. You hear that on the unique, captivating chord progression that he introduced on ‘Tomorrow Tomorrow’ for just a moment before the last verse of the song. I use it, extending it for my piano solo here. This kind of minor-major gambit has a long pedigree, and my own associations as a listener include the music of Schubert and Brahms, among others.

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the recording of "Tomorrow Tomorrow" as well as the performance:

“One of Brahms’ biographers described the feeling of one of his pieces as ‘smiling through tears,’ and it would be a good description for the opening tune of Elliott’s on this set, ‘Better Be Quiet Now.’ Here is a break-up song as tender as it is rueful; the protagonist is smiling sadly as he says goodbye.”

“’Ride into the sun’ is a beautiful point in the lyric of one of the songs that we play, ‘Colorbars,’” Mehldau says. “Elliott Smith says in the original song, ‘Everyone wants me to ride into the sun.’ When I listen to music, I have a feeling that I can be in communion with somebody who is no longer in this earthly realm, like he is here. And as far as ‘riding into the sun,’ it’s maybe more of a perpetual riding into the sun with him. I don’t know ... There’s something mystical there.”

“Brad Mehldau is one of the most influential and acclaimed jazz pianists alive today," exclaims NPR's Fresh Air. "His many recordings feature a wide range of jazz and American popular song standards, but he is also known to interpret music that lies outside the typical jazz catalogue.” Mojo says: “Mehldau has forged a singular style that has not only enhanced jazz’s musical vocabulary but modernised it too.” The New Yorker asserts: “Brad Mehldau is arguably the greatest working jazz pianist. Top five, for sure.”

Brad Mehldau’s Nonesuch debut was the 2004 solo disc Live in Tokyo. His subsequent twenty-one releases on the label include six records with his trio as well as collaborative and solo albums. His most recent releases were After Bach II and Après Fauré, both released in May 2024. The albums both feature compositions by their namesake composers as well as music Mehldau wrote that was inspired by them.

Other recent recordings for the label include a solo album Mehldau recorded during COVID-19 lockdown, Suite: April 2020; Jacob’s Ladder (2022), which featured music that reflects on scripture and the search for God through music and was inspired by the prog rock Mehldau loved as a young adolescent; and Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles (2023), a live solo album featuring the his interpretations of nine songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and one by George Harrison. 

Mehldau’s memoir, Formation: Building a Personal Canon, Part I, was published in 2023, offering a rare look inside the mind of an artist at the top of his field, in his own words.  

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Brad Mehdlau, Dan Coleman
Engineered by John Davis, Nolan Thies
Recorded at The Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, NY on January 24-28, 2025
Mixed by John Davis at The Bunker Studio, Studio A, Brooklyn, NY
Mastered by Alex DeTurk at The Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, NY

All tracks written by Elliott Smith (Steven Paul Smith) (BMI) and published by Spent Bullets Music, c/o Universal Music (BMI)

Except:
"Ride into the Sun" (Pt. I & Conclusion), "Sweet Adeline Fantasy" and "Somebody Cares, Somebody Understands,” written by Brad Mehldau (BMI) and published by Werther Music (BMI)

“Thirteen” written by Christopher Bell (ASCAP) & Alexander William Chilton (ASCAP), published by Almo Music Corporation (ASCAP) & Koala Music C/O Sovereign Citizens (ASCAP)

“Sunday” written by Nick Drake (Nicholas Rodney Drake) (PRS) and published by Blue Raincoat Music Publishing Limited/Reservoir 416 (BMI).

Photography by Augusta Quirk
Design and Illustration by Lawrence Azerrad for Macroscopic

 

Album Status
Artist Name
Brad Mehldau
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Brad Mehldau, piano (1-16)
John Davis, acoustic bass (1, 11), electric bass (2, 10, 15-16)
Matt Chamberlain, drums (1-3, 6, 10, 11-16), percussion (2, 13), screams (2)
Daniel Rossen, lead vocals (3, 12), acoustic guitar (3, 10, 12, 14, 16), electric guitar (10), backing vocals (10), resonator guitar (12)
Chris Thile, mandolin (3, 14), backing vocals (3), lead vocals (14)
Felix Moselholm, acoustic bass (3, 6, 12, 14)

Orchestra (1-3, 7-8, 10, 11, 15-16)
Dan Coleman, conductor
Jill Dell'Abate, contractor
Jackie Thompson, copyist
Alex Sopp, flute, flute solo (15)
Jessica Han, flute
Agnes Marchione, clarinet
Adrian Morejon, bassoon
Eric Reed, horn
Ellen Depasquale, violin 1, violin solo (1)
Austin Wulliman, violin 2
Christina Courtin, violin 3
Laura Frautschi, violin 4
Joanna Maurer, violin 5
Derek Ratzenboeck, violin 6
Dov Scheindlin, viola 1
Mario Goto, viola 2
Nadia Sirota, viola 3
Sophie Shao, cello 1, cello solo (16)
Michael Haas, cello 2
Caitlin Sullivan, cello 3
David Grossman, bass
 

 

reissues?
new-release
Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
LP+MP3
Price
30.00
UPC
075597896190
Slug
ride-into-the-sun-2lp-mp3-bundle
Label
CD+MP3
Price
13.00
UPC
075597896176
Slug
ride-into-the-sun-cd-mp3-bundle
Label
96/24 HD FLAC
UPC
075597896244
Label
MP3
UPC
075597896251

News & Reviews

  • Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, and Marcus Gilmore were at Chenery Auditorium in Kalamazoo, Michigan, for The Gilmore in April, performing songs by Mehldau, Cole Porter, Thelonious Monk, and more. You can now watch it here. Mehldau and McBride meet up again in October for a duo tour of the US and again next March for shows in Paris and Munich. Brad Mehldau’s new album of songs by Elliott Smith, Ride into the Sun, is out August 29.

  • Brad Mehldau has released “Between the Bars," a new track from his forthcoming album, Ride into the Sun—a songbook record of music by the late singer, songwriter, and guitarist Elliott Smith—due August 29 on Nonesuch. He's joined on the song by bassist Felix Moseholm and drummer Matt Chamberlain. You can watch a performance video, directed by Matthew Edginton, here. Also on the album are singer/guitarist Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear), singer/mandolinist Chris Thile, bassist/engineer John Davis, and a chamber orchestra led by Dan Coleman.

     

  • About This Album

    Nonesuch Records releases pianist and composer Brad Mehldau’s Ride into the Sun—a songbook record of music by the late singer, songwriter, and guitarist Elliott Smith—on August 29, 2025. Featured musicians include singer/guitarist Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear); singer/mandolinist Chris Thile (Punch Brothers, Nickel Creek); bassists Felix Moseholm (Brad Mehldau Trio, Samara Joy) and John Davis (who also engineered and mixed the album); drummer Matt Chamberlain (Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Randy Newman); and a chamber orchestra led by Dan Coleman, who also conducted on Mehldau’s 2010 album Highway Rider. In-the-studio videos of the musicians recording the album tracks “Tomorrow Tomorrow” and “Better Be Quiet Now,” directed by Matthew Edginton, can be seen below.

    Ride into the Sun’s ten Elliott Smith songs are complemented by four Mehldau compositions that he says are “inspired by, and reflect, Smith’s oeuvre.” Also included are interpretations of Big Star’s “Thirteen,” which Smith also covered, and “Sunday” by Nick Drake, who Mehldau says, “I look at in some ways as sort of Smith’s visionary grandfather.” 

    Recalling how he first got to know Smith and his music, which has been a regular part of his repertoire for years, Mehldau said that after years living in New York, he moved to Los Angeles “and there was this wonderful scene of singer-songwriters that was congregating at a club called Largo. That included Elliott but it also included artists like Rufus Wainwright, Fiona Apple. And then other musicians who had been around for a while would come down every Friday night to sit in on a gig that was led by Jon Brion. I played behind Elliott on his own tunes with Jon. It felt to me like a kind of renaissance in songwriting that flourished for a number of years.”

    “Elliott Smith masterfully rendered the dark/light admix not in the least through his distinct harmony,” Mehldau continues. “Specifically, he had a way of combining major and minor modes that was all his own. You hear that on the unique, captivating chord progression that he introduced on ‘Tomorrow Tomorrow’ for just a moment before the last verse of the song. I use it, extending it for my piano solo here. This kind of minor-major gambit has a long pedigree, and my own associations as a listener include the music of Schubert and Brahms, among others.

    Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the recording of "Tomorrow Tomorrow" as well as the performance:

    “One of Brahms’ biographers described the feeling of one of his pieces as ‘smiling through tears,’ and it would be a good description for the opening tune of Elliott’s on this set, ‘Better Be Quiet Now.’ Here is a break-up song as tender as it is rueful; the protagonist is smiling sadly as he says goodbye.”

    “’Ride into the sun’ is a beautiful point in the lyric of one of the songs that we play, ‘Colorbars,’” Mehldau says. “Elliott Smith says in the original song, ‘Everyone wants me to ride into the sun.’ When I listen to music, I have a feeling that I can be in communion with somebody who is no longer in this earthly realm, like he is here. And as far as ‘riding into the sun,’ it’s maybe more of a perpetual riding into the sun with him. I don’t know ... There’s something mystical there.”

    “Brad Mehldau is one of the most influential and acclaimed jazz pianists alive today," exclaims NPR's Fresh Air. "His many recordings feature a wide range of jazz and American popular song standards, but he is also known to interpret music that lies outside the typical jazz catalogue.” Mojo says: “Mehldau has forged a singular style that has not only enhanced jazz’s musical vocabulary but modernised it too.” The New Yorker asserts: “Brad Mehldau is arguably the greatest working jazz pianist. Top five, for sure.”

    Brad Mehldau’s Nonesuch debut was the 2004 solo disc Live in Tokyo. His subsequent twenty-one releases on the label include six records with his trio as well as collaborative and solo albums. His most recent releases were After Bach II and Après Fauré, both released in May 2024. The albums both feature compositions by their namesake composers as well as music Mehldau wrote that was inspired by them.

    Other recent recordings for the label include a solo album Mehldau recorded during COVID-19 lockdown, Suite: April 2020; Jacob’s Ladder (2022), which featured music that reflects on scripture and the search for God through music and was inspired by the prog rock Mehldau loved as a young adolescent; and Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles (2023), a live solo album featuring the his interpretations of nine songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and one by George Harrison. 

    Mehldau’s memoir, Formation: Building a Personal Canon, Part I, was published in 2023, offering a rare look inside the mind of an artist at the top of his field, in his own words.  

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Brad Mehldau, piano (1-16)
    John Davis, acoustic bass (1, 11), electric bass (2, 10, 15-16)
    Matt Chamberlain, drums (1-3, 6, 10, 11-16), percussion (2, 13), screams (2)
    Daniel Rossen, lead vocals (3, 12), acoustic guitar (3, 10, 12, 14, 16), electric guitar (10), backing vocals (10), resonator guitar (12)
    Chris Thile, mandolin (3, 14), backing vocals (3), lead vocals (14)
    Felix Moselholm, acoustic bass (3, 6, 12, 14)

    Orchestra (1-3, 7-8, 10, 11, 15-16)
    Dan Coleman, conductor
    Jill Dell'Abate, contractor
    Jackie Thompson, copyist
    Alex Sopp, flute, flute solo (15)
    Jessica Han, flute
    Agnes Marchione, clarinet
    Adrian Morejon, bassoon
    Eric Reed, horn
    Ellen Depasquale, violin 1, violin solo (1)
    Austin Wulliman, violin 2
    Christina Courtin, violin 3
    Laura Frautschi, violin 4
    Joanna Maurer, violin 5
    Derek Ratzenboeck, violin 6
    Dov Scheindlin, viola 1
    Mario Goto, viola 2
    Nadia Sirota, viola 3
    Sophie Shao, cello 1, cello solo (16)
    Michael Haas, cello 2
    Caitlin Sullivan, cello 3
    David Grossman, bass
     

     

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced by Brad Mehdlau, Dan Coleman
Engineered by John Davis, Nolan Thies
    Recorded at The Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, NY on January 24-28, 2025
    Mixed by John Davis at The Bunker Studio, Studio A, Brooklyn, NY
    Mastered by Alex DeTurk at The Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, NY

    All tracks written by Elliott Smith (Steven Paul Smith) (BMI) and published by Spent Bullets Music, c/o Universal Music (BMI)

    Except:
    "Ride into the Sun" (Pt. I & Conclusion), "Sweet Adeline Fantasy" and "Somebody Cares, Somebody Understands,” written by Brad Mehldau (BMI) and published by Werther Music (BMI)

    “Thirteen” written by Christopher Bell (ASCAP) & Alexander William Chilton (ASCAP), published by Almo Music Corporation (ASCAP) & Koala Music C/O Sovereign Citizens (ASCAP)

    “Sunday” written by Nick Drake (Nicholas Rodney Drake) (PRS) and published by Blue Raincoat Music Publishing Limited/Reservoir 416 (BMI).

    Photography by Augusta Quirk
    Design and Illustration by Lawrence Azerrad for Macroscopic

     

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