Brad Mehldau’s "10 Years Solo Live" Out Now in 4-CD Box Set

This weeks marks the release of Brad Mehldau's 10 Years Solo Live as a four-CD box set on Nonesuch Records. The set, which was first released as an eight-LP vinyl box set last month, is culled from nineteen live recordings made over a decade of the pianist's European solo concerts and is divided into four thematic subsets of four sides each: Dark/Light, The Concert, Intermezzo/ Rückblick, and E Minor/E Major.

The new set "contains some of the most impressive pianism Mr. Mehldau has captured on record," exclaims the New York Times' Nate Chinen. It "also confirms that his pristine technique and prismatic elaboration are distinctive traits unto themselves," closing with a performance that is "an astonishment even by his lofty standards." Jazzwise, in a five-star review, calls it "a monumental achievement, and one of the most rewarding solo piano collections of the 21st century so far." The BBC Music Magazine five-star review says it's "a powerful picture of a renaissance artist at the height of his powers."

The Irish Times has named 10 Years Solo Live its Album of the Week. "To listen intently is to engage in the tangle of a great musician's mind, one whose influence may now be discerned in pretty much every jazz pianist that has come after him," says the five-star review. "Nothing can replace the thrill of actually being in the room when Mehldau is in the act of creation, but 10 Years Solo Live is a close second."


Mehldau has "emerged as a player with a stunning virtuosity and daring ability to mine far reaches of improvisation," raves All About Jazz. This is "a beautiful release/box from a unique pianist who continually shows what the piano can do." The Guardian gives it four stars, noting Mehldau's "virtuosity and lyrical ingenuity ... There are plenty of gems here." "Let's make no bones about it: Brad Mehldau is a magician," exclaims Record Collector in a five-star review. "Hearing the pianist in full flow during a live performance is ... nothing less than an awe-inspiring experience."