Personnel:
Brad Mehldau (p), Mario Rossy (b), Jorge Rossy (d)
Reference: FSNT-007
Bar code: 8427328420075
"In his 2023 book Brad Mehldau: Formation: Building A Personal Canon, Part One Brad Mehldau recounts his years of personal and creative growth. The Jacksonville native experienced a significant chapter of his transformative journey in the '90s Barcelona, where he became a pivotal figure in that remarkable jazz connection known as the New York-Barcelona Crossing. Another essential aspect of this was Fresh Sound New Talent, a sub label owned by Fresh Sound Records and likewise founded by the visionary Catalan producer Jordi Pujol, which became a platform for young talents—who are now established stars under legendary companies—to take their first recording steps, as evidenced by Ambrose Akinmusire, Robert Glasper and Kurt Rosenwinkel, to name just a few. When I Fall In Love was the seventh record of this sublabel and Mehldau's first in a trio (then called Mehldau & Rossy Trio), completed by Mario Rossy on double bass and Jorge Rossy on drums. One of the highlights of this captivating disc is the chosen track, which evokes in the listener that sense of soft prostration where emotional sadness and physical pain slowly walk the path toward recovery. After a lengthy, restful exposition of a theme that exudes undeniable vibes reminiscent of Ornette Coleman, Mehldau takes the floor, initially focusing on the lower register, with quick, interrupted progressions of magnetic attraction that gradually ascend in tonality. Mario Rossy reveals his Charlie Haden influences, while his brother Jorge foreshadows why he would become the drummer for the five volumes of The Art of the Trio series and other iconic albums solely in the pianist's name. As Mehldau explains in the afore-mentioned book, compositions during that time did not always come easily, due to various disruptive factors. Nonetheless, pieces so distinctive and restorative as this one, which ends our medical check-up, were beginning to establish his stunning creative path."
—Artur Moral (March 30, 2025)
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/
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"Recorded way back in 1993 in Barcelona, pianist Brad Mehldau was a kid just beginning to explore the deep science of the jazz piano trio with Mario and Jordi Rossy. He was also commencing his stint with Joshua Redman and backing cats like Johnny Griffin, Jimmy Cobb, and others. His working with this trio reveals a young musician (Mehldau was born in 1970) in solid command of the language he is attempting to simultaneously master and deepen. This is a club date and kicks off with an ambitious and wholly successful read of Charlie Parker's "Anthropology." The steaming rhythm leaves Mehldau no choice but to careen through the melody as recklessly as a saxophonist. He inks it note for note and then begins to move through the lower register for sevenths and ninths, playing 16th and even 32nd notes to corral the rhythm section as he moves the scale over first a half, then a whole, and then two and a half steps. A ballad follows, Mehldau's own "At a Loss," a bit of melodramatic glissando playing that nonetheless has at its heart an interesting harmonic series of shifts in timbre, moving from a light blue to a darker, richer chromatic that digs into the blues for a stuttering turn at swing before re-entering a balladic frame. The most exciting track on the set is Coltrane's "Countdown," with its rhythmic and mode changes occurring just before the end of each interval, blurring them somewhat and making the solos belled through. This may not be as great as some of Mehldau's later trio work, but it is very impressive for such an early date."
—Thom Jurek (All Music Guide)
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"As far as i know this is the first album by Brad Mehldau and for a long time his only music available before he signed on WB. It's a live recording in Barcelona, vintage 1993, and to me his best album.
With the Rossy brothers and playing both standards and first-time performances of self-penned tunes, he is as lyrical and uncorrupted as never. A to-be classical due to the first-rate performances, its beautiful cover and for being his first recording. Very enjoyable". (5/5)
www.amazon.com
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"Uno de los primeros discos grabados por el actualmente tan valorado pianista Brad Mehldau, en directo, por un sello independiente español y acompañado por dos de los mejores bases rítmicos de España: los hermanos Rossy. En este disco los tres demuestran su dominio de los distintos palos del jazz: del bop de Anthropology (Ch.Parker) al hard-bop de Crescent (J. Coltrane), pasando por un par de standards suaves, de toda la vida con una recreación estupenda, tanto en When I Fall In Love (donde demuestran una gran imaginación en la recreación) como en I Fall In Love Too Easily donde crean una gran tensión el bajo y la batería.
También están estupendas I Didn't Know What Time It Was, otro estándar, y las composiciones propias At A Loss y la estupenda Convalescent. Un gran disco de un muy buen pianista. Si se suma el precio más que asequible de las referencias del sello Fresh Sound New Talent, se puede decir que es una compra más que satisfactoria. Eso si, no está editado por una "major" con lo cual no verán ustedes demasiada publicidad."
www.jazz.eternius.com
