Brad Mehldau’s Largo

August 13, 2022

The pianist Brad Mehldau put out his Largo album 20 years ago today, in 2002. It deviated from the more traditional piano/bass/drums lineup of his series of five Art of the Trio albums he had put out from 1996 to 2000.

The first song on Largo, “When It Rains,” is a transcendent exploration:

The album includes covers of two songs on the Beatles’ White Album (“Dear Prudence” and “Mother Nature’s Son”) and Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android.” Here’s the Radiohead song: