In 2011 the American pianist Brad Mehldau brought together all the albums he released between 1996 and 2001 in the series The Art Of Trio in a bulky box set. It turned out not to be true that he had explored and exploited all the possibilities of the piano trio concept; the trio remained active with only a change of drummer Jorge Rossy for Jeff Ballard. Ode is no more, but especially no less than
… a piano trio record on which he knows how to translate his virtuosity on the keys into enthusiasm and feeling as usual. This keeps Mehldau's neo-bop and his equally technically gifted rhythm section always accessible, even if a hip cover of a song by Nick Drake or Radiohead is missing this time. Ode contains eleven compositions by Mehldau in which he pays homage to various names such as the deceased saxophonist Michael Brecker, his wife and singer Fleurine (nicknamed Twiggy, as is clear from the composition of the same name) and the character George Hanson played by Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider. Mehldau and band still understand 'the art of trio' on Ode. (MR)more