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It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes.

I think the deal is...

... that Brad has just gotten tired of being compared to Evans, which is understandable, given that the similarities between them are pretty superficial. Too many writers look at him and say, "look, he's a piano player, he's white, he slouches when he plays, he likes to play standards in a trio format, and his music is kind of introspective ... he must be copying Bill Evans!"

If Mehldau was better at self-promotion, he would respond to this kind of thing by saying something like, "Wow, it's flattering to be compared to the great Bill Evans." But Brad's a bit cranky by nature, and he knows that he's more influenced by Wynton Kelly and even classical music than Evans, so usually responds by saying he isn't much influenced by Evans and doesn't even like his playing that much. Not good pr! But who really cares what the man *says*. Let's listen to what he plays!

I love Bill Evans and agree completely that every piano player of the past 40 years has been influenced by him whether they know it or not. BUT... I also like Mehldau, and think he's made quite a contribution, especially for somebody still relatively young. To mention just a couple things, I think his use of compound meters and his ability to improvise independent lines with his left hand (as opposed to just comping chords) are quite impressive.


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