Mehldau and trio give fantastic performance

I caught a fantastic show last night in Iowa City, finally getting the chance to see the Brad Mehldau Trio in person. I’ve been a fan for years, and so it was nice to experience them live.

This was a make-up gig from 2005 when Mehldau was snowed in and couldn’t reach Iowa City for a show. This time, he almost was forced to postpone again, but the problem was on our end: the University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium was severely damaged during massive flooding we experienced here in June. The facility won’t open until 2010, but in the meantime many of this season’s shows were rescheduled for area venues (new season tagline: “Can’t Contain Us.”) This show was at the City High School auditorium, and it’s a safe guess that no matter how talented the school’s many alums may have been, this was the best thing to ever grace that stage.

I wrote a review for CorridorBuzz.com where those interested can find out all of the details. Suffice to say it was the best jazz I’ve seen this year, and that’s saying something given the caliber of talent at this year’s Iowa City Jazz Festival.