After Bach II Brad Mehldau

• 1Prelude to Prelude01:22
• 2Prelude No. 9 in E Major from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 85401:48
• 3Prelude No. 6 in D Minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 85101:18
• 4After Bach: Toccata14:42
• 5Partita for Keyboard No. 4 in D Major, BWV 828: II. Allemande08:11
• 6After Bach: Cavatina05:16
• 7Prelude No. 20 in A Minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 86501:07
• 8Between Bach06:05
• 9Fugue No. 20 in A Minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 86503:55
• 10Intermezzo01:26
• 11Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme: Aria-like03:39
• 12Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme: Variation I, Minor 5/8 a02:12
• 13Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme: Variation II, Minor 5/8 b01:10
• 14Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme: Variation III, Major 7/402:31
• 15Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme: Variation IV, Breakbeat01:40
• 16Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme: Variation V, Jazz02:03
• 17Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme: Variation VI, Finale01:25
• 18Prelude No. 7 in E-Flat Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 85203:59
• 19Postlude02:16
• Total Runtime01:06:05

Info for After Bach II

The Bach album comprises four preludes and one fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier, as well as the Allemande from the fourth Partita, interspersed with seven compositions or improvisations by Mehldau inspired by the complementary works of Bach—including Mehldau’s Variations on Bach’s Goldberg Theme.

Brad Mehldau, speaking of the “universality” of Bach’s music, says in his liner note: “The more you try to engage with him, the more your own personality becomes visible, unavoidably. You are not playing Bach—Bach is playing you, in the sense that he lays you bare ... The greatest choice you make at all times is not out of an absence, but from what is there, in its totality. Specifically, it is the constant choice you make in how to negotiate between harmony and melody.”

Mehldau, speaking of the “universality” of Bach’s music, says in his liner note: “The more you try to engage with him, the more your own personality becomes visible, unavoidably. You are not playing Bach—Bach is playing you, in the sense that he lays you bare ... The greatest choice you make at all times is not out of an absence, but from what is there, in its totality. Specifically, it is the constant choice you make in how to negotiate between harmony and melody.”

He continues, “This is why Bach is a model for me as a jazz musician. In my improvised solos, I want to make melodic phrases that carry harmonic implication, and create harmony that moves in a melodic fashion. This is a crucial component in the storytelling.” After Bach II follows 2018’s After Bach album, which originated in a work Mehldau first performed in 2015—commissioned by Carnegie Hall, The Royal Conservatory of Music, The National Concert Hall, and Wigmore Hall—called Three Pieces After Bach. Two of Mehldau’s compositions from that program were presented on the After Bach album; his virtuosic third piece, Toccata, is included on After Bach II.

Discussing the Après Fauré album in his note, Mehldau says: “If the sublime foreshadows our mortality, this music might communicate the austerity of death—Fauré’s as it approached him, but also the apprehension of our own. We find a kinship with the composer finally, in the form of a question that he tossed off into the future, to us. I have composed four pieces to accompany Fauré’s music here, to share the way I have engaged with Fauré’s question, with you, the listener.”

“This format is similar to my After Bach project,” he continues. “The connections are less overt, but Fauré’s harmonic imprint is on all four. There is also a textural influence, in terms of how he presented his musical material pianistically—he exploited the instrument’s sonority masterfully, as an expressive means. So, for example, in my first ‘Prelude,’ melody is welded to a continuous arpeggiation, both part of it and hovering above it; in my ‘Nocturne,’ it is possible to hear the harkening chordal approach in the opening of Fauré’s No. 12.”

Brad Mehldau’s Nonesuch debut was the 2004 solo disc Live in Tokyo. His subsequent nineteen releases on the label include six records with his trio as well as collaborative and solo albums. His most recent releases are a solo album he recorded during COVID-19 lockdown, Suite: April 2020; Jacob’s Ladder (2022), which featured music that reflects on scripture and the search for God through music and was inspired by the prog rock Mehldau loved as a young adolescent; and Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles (2023), a live solo album featuring the pianist and composer’s interpretations of nine songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and one by George Harrison. Mehldau’s memoir, Formation: Building a Personal Canon, Part I, also was published in 2023, offering a rare look inside the mind of an artist at the top of his field, in his own words. 

Brad Mehldau, piano

Brad Mehldau
played in a number of different ensembles, including label mate Joshua Redman’s quartet, before becoming a bandleader himself in the 1990s. The Brad Mehldau Trio, which tours the world extensively, made eight acclaimed recordings for Warner Bros., including the five widely praised Art of the Trio albums with former drummer Jorge Rossy (released as a boxed set by Nonesuch in 2011). The pianist’s nine years with Nonesuch have been equally productive, beginning with the solo disc Live in Tokyo and including six trio records Day is Done, House on Hill, Live, Ode, and Where Do You Start, as well as a collaboration with soprano Renée Fleming, Love Sublime; a chamber ensemble album, Highway Rider; two collaborations with label mate Pat Metheny, Metheny Mehldau and Quartet, the latter of which also includes Trio members Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier; a CD/DVD set of live solo performances, Live in Marciac; and collaborations with genre-crossing musicians on Modern Music, with composer/pianist Kevin Hays and composer/arranger Patrick Zimmerli. Additionally, he produced saxophonist Joshua Redman’s 2013 release Walking Shadows.

Mark Guiliana
According to Modern Drummer, Mark Guiliana is “at the forefront of an exciting new style of drumming.” The New Jersey native’s unique and un-compromised approach to playing the drums has earned him international acclaim as both a leader and a sideman. In 2004, Guiliana created HEERNT, an “experimental-garage-jazz” trio based in New York. The band’s debut record, Locked in a Basement, was called the record “the most exuberant, dramatic, beautiful, sassy, genre-busting little outing that I've heard since I don't know when” by legendary drummer Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson). As a sideman, Guiliana’s longest partnership has been with world-renowned jazz bassist Avishai Cohen. He toured all over the world with Cohen from 2003 until 2008, performing on six studio records and a live DVD recorded at the Blue Note in Manhattan. Guiliana has also recorded and/or performed with Meshell Ndegeocello, Dhafer Youssef, Wayne Krantz, Matisyahu, Jazz Mandolin Project, Jason Lindner, Brad Shepik, Bobby McFerrin, Tigran Hamasyan, and many more. His debut solo record, Beat Music, which was co-produced by Ndegeocello, was released in the spring of 2013. Guiliana plays Gretsch drums, Sabian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, and Evans drumheads.

This album contains no booklet.