Brad Mehldau: "It's very difficult to render the subtleties of Beatles songs alone on the piano"

He has been the star of jazz piano for several decades.

American Brad Mehldau, 52, has always stood out in the landscape.

He was one of the first instrumentalists of his level to incorporate pop compositions, from Nick Cave to Radiohead, into his solo recitals.

We see him again wearing a Grateful Dead t-shirt at the Châtelet, playing Nirvana between two standards.

Very rare in an interview, the pianist evokes here his work on the repertoire of the Beatles.

LE FIGARO.

- It's not the first time you've taken over a pop repertoire.

Why the Beatles?

Brad MEHLDAU.

-

Initially, it was a commission from the Philharmonie de Paris.

I didn't have much time to select the songs.

Other musicians on the program had already chosen the ones they wanted to cover.

If I had waited too long, there wouldn't have been much left.

I tried to mix their more experimental tracks with more universal things.

Either titles like

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