Modern Music (Mehldau–Hayes album)

Modern Music is an album by pianists Brad Mehldau and Kevin Hays.

Background

The three protagonists for the album – composer and arranger Patrick Zimmerli, and pianists Brad Mehldau and Kevin Hays – were friends.^[1] Mehldau was already known for mixing elements from forms of music other than jazz into his performances, and Hays had more recently extended "from his signature, intelligent, hard swinging post-bop approach to include compositions with modern classical touches".^[1]

Music and recording

The album was recorded in October 2010 at Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts.^[2] Zimmerli composed three of the pieces and arranged the others, which included an original each from Mehldau and Hays.^[1] The three Zimmerli pieces have "busy palettes, intricate cross-keyboard dialogues, and contrapuntal studies".^[1]

Reception

The album was released by Nonesuch Records on September 20, 2011.^[2] The AllMusic reviewer concluded that "it's not a jazz album, but one in which new considerations of harmonic composition and intra-instrument dialogue are readily apparent and delivered upon with discipline as well as verve."^[1] The Financial Times reviewer commented on the two pianists' awareness of what they were doing together and the positive impact of the structure of their playing.^[3]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Financial Times	[3]
The Guardian	[4]

Track listing

1. "Crazy Quilt" (Patrick Zimmerli) – 6:21
2. "Unrequited" (Brad Mehldau) – 6:27
3. "Generatrix" (Zimmerli) – 5:12
4. "Celtic Folk Melody" (Zimmerli) – 2:58
5. "Excerpt from Music for 18 Musicians" (Steve Reich) – 5:20
6. "Lonely Woman" (Ornette Coleman) – 6:31
7. "Modern Music" (Zimmerli) – 4:59
8. "Elegia" (Kevin Hays) – 6:20
9. "Excerpt from String Quartet No. 5" (Philip Glass) – 3:45

Personnel

• Brad Mehldau – piano
• Kevin Hays – piano

References