Shapeshifter, Brad Mehldau, goes beyond boundaries

Acclaimed jazz pianist Brad Mehldau talks to Ed Power about his influences, pop music, purists and all that jazz.

If you know one thing about jazz pianist Brad Mehldau it’s that he is partial to Radiohead. Four Grammy nominations and a succession of paradigm-redefining albums have made him an icon to jazz fans; nonetheless among general audiences it’s his penchant for covering arena rock’s grumpiest pin-ups that has gained him renown.

Jazz players can be sniffy about being co-opted by the mainstream – so you might expect Mehldau (44) to be unhappy about his association with a mere rock band. In fact he’s pleased to be known for performing the music of Radiohead, Massive Attack and others – albeit in extensively reshaped and heavily improvised form. Whatever gets the word out is fine by him.