Brad Mehldau, a jazz pianist, has taken Johann Sebastian Bach’s classical music and transformed it into something entirely new and exciting. He uses Bach’s melodies and cadences as a starting point to explore. This album is like a musical conversation between a composer from the 1700s and a modern jazz musician.
Who is Brad Mehldau
Brad Mehldau isn’t your ordinary musician; he’s a jazz pianist who enjoys experimenting and pushing musical limits. Imagine him as a musical chef who takes classic recipes and adds his unique seasonings to create something surprising. His approach to Bach is not about preservation; rather, it is about conversation, understanding, and pushing musical boundaries.
After Bach
Released in 2018, After Bach is a collection of solo piano pieces where Mehldau explores the complex beauty of the compositions by Bach, infusing them with his jazz sensibilities. In this recording, Mehldau doesn’t just play Bach’s music in the conventional sense; he transforms it. The very title of the album itself indicates it’s music made after Bach—inspired by him—but soaring into fresh territory. Mehldau is not just paying homage to Bach but is letting the ideas of Bach resound in the space of modern jazz.
The most remarkable feature of “After Bach” is the manner in which Mehldau has taken on the notion of “improvisation within a framework.” Bach was believed to be something of a virtuoso in terms of counterpoint and is famed for his polyphonic compositions. Mehldau does this same thing and then applies it to his jazz style, which gives him the freedom to really play around with the piece but still stays within the confines that make Bach’s music refreshing to this day. This blend of rigid form with improvisational freedom is a core theme throughout the album.
The Track Listing
- Before Bach: Benediction
- The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 848: Prelude No. 3 in C# Major
- After Bach: Rondo
- The Well-Tempered Clavier Book II, BWV 870: Prelude No. 1 in C Major
- After Bach: Pastorale
- The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 855: Prelude No. 10 in E Minor
- After Bach: Flux
- The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 857: Prelude and Fugue No. 12 in F Minor
- After Bach: Dream
- The Well-Tempered Clavier Book II, BWV 885: Fugue No. 16 in G Minor
- After Bach: Ostinato
- Prayer for Healing
You can find the album on any music streaming site of your choosing.
A Deep Dive into the Music
It must be mentioned that any song from this album is great, though some of them are especially unique examples of Mehldau’s creativity. For instance, in “The Well-Tempered Clavier: When Mehldau Performs Prelude No.1”, he plays one of the best-known pieces of music in a tradition that was familiar but different. The piece starts in an introductory way, purely and accurately, as the concert can be tuned. Any profound pianist can be expected to play it, but after the introduction, the piece goes all jazzy.
Another piece for admiration is “Air on the G String” from the Orchestral Suite No.3 in D major by Johann Sebastian Bach. On the fast moving melody, Mehldau elaborates on Bach’s harmonic concepts with his jazz chords. It is consistently phased differently than the original track, but it has a meditative nature, constantly varying in tone and key.
Added to this classical structure, Mehldau uses jazz elements such as rhythms, voiced chords, and improvisation throughout the whole album. The result is a sound rich in polyphonic structures, incorporating attributes from both jazz and the baroque style. Precisely, this ability to combine the complexity of Bach with the passion of jazz can be regarded as one of the major strengths of After Bach.
Final Thoughts
After Bach is as if it is a time machine. If anything, it gives you a trip from the 1700s to the present day, an argument that music can be conservative and radical all at once. Well, plug in a good pair of headphones, sit back, and let Brad Mehldau amaze you.