Jacob's ladder

"Brad Mehldau pushes far beyond the acoustic jazz he is known for on 2022's prog rock-inspired Jacob's Ladder. Even with his past forays into classical and exploratory jazz, the pianist's choice to dip into the kinetic '70s and '80s rock of bands like Rush (he reworks several of their songs here) is an unexpected and eyebrow-raising move. That said, Mehldau has explored pop/rock songs in the past, famously applying his deeply introspective and harmonically nuanced style to tracks by Radiohead, Nirvana, and other iconic bands. While Jacob's Ladder continues this iconoclastic trajectory, it is much more than an intriguing covers album, as Mehldau weaves together several finely curated cover songs with his own ambitious compositions, including two classical-influenced three-part suites ... Although Jacob's Ladder is one of the more idiosyncratic albums in Mehldau's discography, there's enough sophisticated and delicately rendered piano work here to appeal to his longtime fans".

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"Jazzpianisten Brad Mehldau fortsætter sporet fra 'Finding Gabriel' (2019). 'Jacob's Ladder' dyrker ungdommens prog-rock og reflekterer over menneskets søgen efter Gud via egne kompositioner og covers af sange af Rush, Gentle Giant og Yes. En barnestemmes læsning af Jakobsstigen indleder Mehldaus hidtil mest komplekse album, som rummer fugaforløb, Brahms-melodier, math-metal og englekor. 23 musikere fylder lydbilledet helt op ... Hvor er den normalt lyriske pianist i alt det her? Jo, han er der. Bag alskens tangenter, som vært for en spændende 70-minutters rejse, som kræver sin lytter. Lyrisk betyder ikke tandløs, og man opdager noget nyt for hver lytning".

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"There is a lot happening on Jacob's Ladder - almost too much. As Brad Mehldau channels music of his youth - the extravagance of '70s prog rock and the pyrotechnics of fusion - he underscores the album with soul-stirring Biblical themes".