The brilliant young American jazz pianist Brad Mehldau (who turns forty today) has frequently covered Radiohead, as I mentioned yesterday, but also The Beatles, Sufjan Stevens, Paul Simon, Nick Drake, and on his 2008 release, The Brad Mehldau Trio Live, the alternative rock acts, Soundgarden and Oasis. The album is state-of-the-art jazz, and it features his equally adventurous partners, the bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard. Today, I'll discuss the opening track, their version of the yob rock group Oasis' "Wonderwall".

The original is a tongue-tied, teenage love song that contains a strong melody despite indifferent playing. The Mehldau Trio's version, however, provides one of the most sophisticated instrumental performances that a song of this genre has ever had. One of the really interesting things about jazz is the way that it can be used to explore the forces that make up a piece of music - its rhythms, harmonic motion, counterpoint, texture. It's like a physics experiment in some ways. And this recording does all of it. But as I've mentioned before, the complexity of this style requires that it be given the benefit of multiple hearings. It simply won't reveal itself to a half-hearted listener. So don't be one. (Tomorrow: a discussion of another track - this one a jazz standard.)