*** Brad Mehldau

THE ART OF THE TRIO, VOLUME TWO

(Blue Note)

Pianist Brad Mehldau displays both chops and imagination on this program of popular and jazz standards recorded live at the Village Vanguard with a trio -- Larry Grenadier on bass and drummer Jorge Rossy. Mehldau is a well-schooled post-bop keyboardist who doesn't play by rote. Familiar elements crop up in his solos, but not where you expect them. His lines pick up momentum when you think they might end, his left-hand chords fall where you don't expect them, and sometimes his hands reverse roles, with flowing left-hand melodies bolstered by treble chords and trills from the right. When he improvises a good phrase, he'll fix on it and exhaust its possibilities in strands of beautiful variations.

He knows how to get the most out of a good tune, too. His playful use of the melody of "Monk's Mood" is ingenious, and his reshaping of "Moon River" elevates Henry Mancini's composition to a more artful plateau. No matter how fast he plays, Mehldau's articulation remains crystalline, and his notes have a wonderful percussive pop, even on ballads. He's got technique to spare, but he also has something to say.

-- Ed Hazell