Young Pianist Is an Old Hand at Playing Jazz

In jazz, youth can be a drawback. Sometimes young players make their way into careers before all the pieces of their musical development are in place. Critics often dole out qualified appraisals of newcomers, admiring their chops but questioning their ripeness.

That’s not always the case, of course. Take, for instance, pianist Brad Mehldau, 26, who released his debut album, “Introducing Brad Mehldau,” on Warner Bros. last year. He plays with a maturity beyond his years. That much is evident in the assured technical facility and the probing, yet patient, manner of his improvisations. He draws heavily on jazz traditions but also show signs of his classical training, with a sound and a voice reminiscent of Keith Jarrett.

You can also hear a burnished confidence in the way he settles into the lyrical balladic spaces of “Blame It on My Youth,” which opens his forthcoming Warner Bros. album “The Art of the Piano Trio, Vol. 1.” Mehldau’s youth is still in evidence, but he’s got wisdom flowing from his fingers, as well.

Mehldau will play at the Jazz Hall in Santa Barbara on Friday, in a duo with notable Los Angeles bassist Darek Oles. Humble as it is in size, the Jazz Hall has become a mecca for jazz north of L.A., and a number of fine pianists have landed there. The following night, Impulse recording artist Eric Reed will perform there. Mehldau played at the Jazz Hall earlier this year, as the pianist with a group led by Gerry Gibbs and Ravi Coltrane.

Mehldau grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Boston and New York, but he migrated to Los Angeles eight months ago. As he said in an interview last week, “I just wanted to try something different, something a little more laid-back than New York. I was sick of New York.”

Mehldau and Oles have performed together at Cal Arts, where Oles teaches, and also at a radio convention in a Los Angeles hotel, “doing background music,” Mehldau said. “But we both had such a good time playing in a duo, we both said, ‘Wow, we’ve got to do this again.’ It’s really nice and kind of intimate.”

For the most part, though, Mehldau has been working in a trio. Over the last couple of years, he has established a rapport with drummer Jorge Rossy and bassist Larry Grenadier, who appear on his fine new album, to be released next month. “As far as that goes,” Mehldau said, “a lot of the rapport had to do with just a plain trust and faith that I have in them, and also that the three of us have together, to bring something to the music and really not worry about having to cover for each other, to really take some chances. I guess a lot of it is a trust that you develop, similar to a friendship, where you don’t have to dictate things as much or spell things out to each other.”

As a youth growing up in West Hartford, Mehldau began his classical studies at the age of 6, but was swayed by the jazz muse as a teenager. “There was a little overlap” between the idioms, he said, but “being young like I was, I found that there were irreconcilable differences between the styles. I couldn’t figure out a way to do both. Also I didn’t have the discipline to go on with classical. I got into rock ‘n’ roll and having a good time.”

He counts among his influences McCoy Tyner, Wynton Kelly and, to a lesser degree than most critics seem to think, Bill Evans. Much higher on his list of heroes is Keith Jarrett.

Mehldau was barely into his teens when he first heard “Koln Concert,” Jarrett’s popular solo piano recording from the mid-’70s. He was struck by Jarrett’s fluid improvisational approach. “That still blows me away,” Mehldau said. “I still put that on a pedestal. On those solo records, the way he could be creative for 25 minutes at a time and probably mainly improvising is pretty amazing.”

Mehldau’s career began its subtle ascent when he was hired by drummer Jimmy Cobb. Ears perked up, and he was signed to Warner Bros., which has been scouting out young talent and building up its jazz roster in the last few years. Being a more cerebral player than many of his peers, Mehldau is resistant to marketing hype.

Recently, he has “rediscovered” classical music, as both listener and player. The renewed interest has had an effect on his jazz life. “I guess that has just rubbed off on my jazz playing. When I sit down to improvise, a lot of those things just come out.”

If his solo career has, so far, developed on a fairly low-key level for a major label artist, Mehldau has experienced higher-profile situations, when he was the pianist in Joshua Redman’s group. “When I was with Joshua Redman, people would tell me that I had the perfect gig. It paid really well and was also a great band. But what I always complained about then was that it was so grueling being on the road all the time.

“Now I have free time on my hands and I just wish I was on the road and doing something. I guess you can always find something to complain about.” After all, he’s still young enough to feel the anxiety of having to wait for things to happen.

Swinging Veterans:From a different end of the age spectrum, the sixtysomething pianist Gerry Wiggins sauntered onto the stage of the Civic Arts Plaza’s Forum Theatre on Sunday night with his signature look--glasses propped on his forehead. It’s a half-studied, half-casual appearance that reflects his musical imprint, which is all about good, smart fun.

Wiggins currently boasts a potent trio of kindred spirits, with the formidable bassist Andy Simpkins--who is often given to singing along with his agile solos--and taste-driven drummer Paul Humphrey. Veterans both, they know where and when to apply heat and swing.

As for Wiggins, he dishes out a smooth, understated sound, dancing lightly on the keys instead of pounding or speed-typing. At times, he’ll insert wry musical quotes--”Somewhere Over the Rainbow” or “Turkey in the Straw” or a minor-mode snippet of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”--and keep a puckish wit bubbling beneath the fluidity of his playing.

Standards get revisited by the trio: “Take the A-Train” was driven at half speed and “Yesterdays” took a sudden turn into a major key for a chorus.

The groups’ appearance was the result of the annual Holiday Jazz concert presented by the Thousand Oaks chapter of the American Assn. of University Women. Bless them, every one.

DETAILS

Brad Mehldau

* WHAT: Brad Mehldau and Darek Oles.

* WHERE: Jazz Hall, 29 E. Victoria St., Santa Barbara.

* WHEN: 9 p.m. Friday.

* HOW MUCH: $10.

* CALL: 963-0404.