Not our usual: Thursday night, jazz pianist Brad Mehldau will be appearing with his trio at City High as part of the 2008-2009 Hancher series. You may recall that flood that happened way back when, which forced the the University’s main performing arts auditorium to outsource its planned events. The show must go on, as they say, and Mehldau will still be playing Thursday evening. We don’t frequently pay attention to whatever jazz scene Iowa City has to offer, but Mehldau’s performance here is extremely noteworthy.

Practically a contemporary homage to Bill Evans, Mehldau began his career as a sideman to some (then) more well-known jazz musicians, particularly popular saxophone player Joshua Redman. He has gone on to establish himself as one of the finest contemporary American jazz musicians. With his trio, he has recorded 12 albums (studio and live included), and is noted for his individualistic style and willingness to explore different territory. He is known to access music outside the jazz world, taking on covers of Radiohead, the Beatles, and Nick Drake on his albums and in live performance, and is perhaps most recognized by non-jazz lovers for his ferocious take on “Paranoid Android” that has become a staple of his live performances. His style is virtuosic to say the least, and critics have extolled his ability to play separate contrapuntal melodies - two “lead” lines - at the same time with each hand. And while his work with his trio is consistently breathtaking, nowhere is this more evident than his 1999 foray into solo performance, Elegiac Cycle. This work sees him rely heavily on his classical training and draws inspiration from his interest in philosophy and focuses not only on the pensive but the melancholic side of life. Elegiac Cycle, while an indulgence we’ll not likely hear him play on Thursday, is to me the record that he found his voice on. It directly led to the release of Places, his 2000 trio record of original compositions dedicated or based on places he had lived and traveled. Most recently, he has worked with renowned guitarist Pat Metheny. His trio also features bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard. The 38 year-old Mehldau’s current release, simply titled Live, features recordings of him and his trio during a four-night stand in 2006 at the Village Vanguard in New York.

Below you can grab his somber yet rousing take on Radiohead’s “Exit Music (For a Film)” from Art of the Trio, Vol. 3: Songs (1998) and the epic “Memory’s Tricks” from the aforementioned solo masterpiece Elegiac Cycle.

Who: Brad Mehldau Trio
When: Thursday, November 13
Where: City High School
How Much: $15-$40, depending on where you sit and whether you are a student

Download: Brad Mehldau Trio - Exit Music (For a Film)

Download: Brad Mehldau - Memory’s Tricks