Brad Mehldau's recent concert at Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band conducted and with arrangements by its composer-in-residence Darcy James Argue, can now be seen on ARTE. "Brad Mehldau ranks among the most significant jazz pianists of our time," says ARTE. "One of the most influential pianists of recent decades, Mehldau has garnered a following extending far beyond the jazz world." Argue, whom ARTE says "possesses the ability to propel big-band music into uncharted territory," has has been nominated for the JJA Jazz Award for Arranger of the Year; his arrangements can be heard on Cécile McLorin Salvant's forthcoming orchestral album, With Every Breath I Take.
When pianist and composer Brad Mehldau gave a performance at Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band conducted and with arrangements by its composer-in-residence Darcy James Argue on March 14, ARTE was there to capture the set, which can now be seen below.
"Brad Mehldau ranks among the most significant jazz pianists of our time," says ARTE. "One of the most influential pianists of recent decades, Mehldau has garnered a following extending far beyond the jazz world. Not content with merely being an improviser par excellence, the American musician draws upon the jazz tradition to craft his original pieces with the precision of a master jeweler, while also delighting in revisiting tracks drawn from the pop and rock realms."
Brad Mehldau’s latest album, Ride into the Sun, released last August, is a songbook record of music by the late singer, songwriter, and guitarist Elliott Smith, featuring 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.” You can get it and hear it here.
Darcy James Argue, who has been nominated for the 2026 JJA Jazz Award for Arranger of the Year and whom ARTE says "possesses the ability to propel big-band music into uncharted territory," made his Nonesuch debut with the release of his Secret Society ensemble's Dynamic Maximum Tension in 2023, which you can hear here. Argue's arrangements can be heard on Cécile McLorin Salvant's forthcoming album, With Every Breath I Take, her first with orchestra, featuring The Netherlands’ Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley. They perform his new arrangements of timeless songs by Coleman, Coward, Ellington, Sondheim, Strayhorn, and Salvant. You can hear the title track and pre-order the album here.
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