Nonesuch

Few jazz acts in the last 20 years have mastered the art of the piano trio format quite like Brad Mehldau. Since introducing himself to us in 1995, the 41-year-old Connecticut-bred ivory man has established himself as a bandleader, a soloist and a trusted sideman, collaborating with everyone from alto legend Lee Konitz to classical singer Renee Fleming to tabloid rocker John Mayer to art pop maestro Jon Brion.

But perhaps the longest lasting impression left on Mehldau’s career up until the present day has been his acclaimed Art of the Trio album series. Recorded between the years 1996 and 2001 during subsequent stands at New York’s famed Village Vanguard, this cache of compact discs provided the quintessential platform for the pianist’s prowess on the baby grand with the ample backing of his longtime rhythm section of bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy. Those in the room on these dates, the same space occupied by another piano pioneer—the late, great Bill Evans—at the start and end of his magnificent career in music, saw this trio pull from a spectacularly spun songbook that ranged from Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart and Johnny Mercer to the aforementioned Mr. Evans, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane to The Beatles, Nick Drake and Radiohead. And whether it was “Moon River” or “Exit Music (for a Film)”, Mehldau, Grenadier and Rossy delivered everything they played on these nights with such a keen sense of grace and lyricism that it all melds together into one seamless string of adventurous eloquence.

This seven-disc box set brings together, for the first time, all five Art of the Trio LPs recorded and released on Warner Bros. (Volume 5 is a two-discer), plus a bonus collection of previously unreleased material from additional Mehldau gigs at the Vanguard. For those who felt that jazz had lost its way in the 1990s, this essential succession of performances by the Mehldau Trio gave many fans hope for a better tomorrow, one whose creative dividends we are seeing today in 2012 with an abundance of exciting new acts breathing new life into an age-old American institution through the acoustic ingenuity of such fresh young titans as Dan Tepfer, Vijay Iyer and Fabian Almazan.

Even if you already own the previous editions of these illuminating live recordings, this comprehensive package is well worth the re-investment and a solid reminder why Brad Mehldau has earned his place amongst the true masters of the jazz piano.