Brad Mehldau: I Fall in Love Too Easily

Brad Mehldau's first Art of the Trio recording from 1996 includes some of the most romantic playing of his career. This artist sometimes veers into cerebral territory, offering up multi-layered performances that I dig, but that I would be more likely to recommend to musicians than to casual fans. But this track comes straight from the heart - one of those hear-a-pin-drop ballads that sends a hush over the nightclub, and even gets the burly bouncer at the door teary-eyed. In his later recordings, the pianist has tended to cram more content into his solos, and one fears that the constant comparisons with Bill Evans (to which Mehldau has vehemently objected) has perhaps led him to build ever more impressive superstructures into his trio performances. But this wistful song shows that Mehldau can create tremendous drama and emotion with a stark and simple immersion into the feeling space of the composition.