Elegiac Cycle

1999 studio album by Brad Mehldau

Elegiac Cycle

Studio album by

Brad Mehldau

Released| June 8, 1999
Recorded| February 1–2, 1999
Studio| Mad Hatter Studios (Los Angeles)
Genre| Jazz, post-romanticism
Length| 56:47
Label| Warner Bros. 9362-47357-2
Producer| Brad Mehldau, Michael Davenport
Brad Mehldau chronology
| Songs: The Art of the Trio Volume Three
(1998)  | Elegiac Cycle
(1999)  | Art of the Trio 4: Back at the Vanguard
(1999)

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Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
Allmusic|  [1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz| [2]
Sputnikmusic| 4.4/5[3]

Elegiac Cycle is a solo piano album by Brad Mehldau. It was issued in 1999 by Warner Bros. produced by Mehldau himself.

## Background and music

[edit]

Mehldau described the influence of James Joyce's Ulysses on the album being "cyclical in design, with a theme that began the record and returned at the ending, just as Odysseus's journey was a circular one in which he eventually arrived home".[4] He also mentioned Joyce's use of Latin translated into English in the novel as an inspiration for a musical effect in "Memory's Tricks": "I silently depressed the notes of its meoldic motif with one hand, and with them held down, improvised other lines with the other hand, allowing the motif to peak out in the sympathetic vibrations that arose from the soundboard."[4]

## French edition

[edit]

In 2011, the French publisher Outre Mesure released in both English and French the complete transcription note for note of Elegiac Cycle, and some musical commentaries by Philippe André, the original manuscript “lead sheets” of Brad Mehldau and a long and recent interview by Ludovic Florin about the genesis of the record and where the musician stands with it now.

## Track listing

[edit]

All pieces composed by Brad Mehldau

1. "Bard" 2:45
2. "Resignation" 5:34
3. "Memory's Tricks" 9:17
4. "Elegy for William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg" 4:43
5. "Lament for Linus" 1:27
6. "Trailer Park Ghost" 9:19
7. "Goodbye Storyteller (for Fred Myrow)" 10:27
8. "Rückblick" 8:56
9. "The Bard Returns" 4:16

## Personnel

[edit]

Primary artist

* Brad Mehldau \- piano, producer, liner notes

Production

* Lawrence Azerrad – art direction, design
* Alisha Chamberlain – assistant engineer
* Michael Davenport – executive producer, management
* Alan Yoshida – mastering
* John Clark – photography
* Bernie Kirsch – recording

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Elegiac Cycle at AllMusic
2. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 990\. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
3. ^ "Brad Mehldau: Elegiac Cycle". Sputnikmusic. sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
4. ^ a b Mehldau, Brad (2023). Formation: Building a Personal Canon, Part One. Equinox. pp. 201–202. ISBN 978-1-80050-313-7.

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* t
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Brad Mehldau

Studio albums|

* Consenting Adults (1994)
* Introducing Brad Mehldau (1995)
* The Art of the Trio Volume One (1996)
* Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz (1996)
* Songs: The Art of the Trio Volume Three (1998)
* Elegiac Cycle (1999)
* Places (2000)
* Largo (2002)
* Anything Goes (2002)
* House on Hill (2005)
* Day Is Done (2005)
* Metheny Mehldau
* Metheny/Mehldau Quartet (2005)
* Love Sublime (2006)
* Highway Rider (2009)
* Love Songs (2010)
* Modern Music (2010)
* Ode (2011)
* Where Do You Start (2011)
* Variations on a Melancholy Theme (2013)
* Mehliana: Taming the Dragon (2014)
* Blues and Ballads (2014)
* Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau (2016)
* After Bach (2017)
* Seymour Reads the Constitution! (2018)
* Finding Gabriel (2018)
* Suite: April 2020 (2020)
* Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles (2020)
* Jacob’s Ladder (2022)
* The Folly of Desire (2022)

Live albums|

* New York-Barcelona Crossing, Volumen 1 (1993)
* New York-Barcelona Crossing, Volumen 2 (1993)
* When I Fall in Love (1993)
* Live at the Village Vanguard: The Art of the Trio Volume Two (1997)
* Art of the Trio 4: Back at the Vanguard (1999)
* Progression: The Art of the Trio, Vol. 5 (2000)
* Live in Tokyo (2003)
* Brad Mehldau Trio Live (2006)
* Live in Marciac (2006)
* Long Ago and Far Away (2007)
* Nearness (2011)
* 10 Years Solo Live (2014)

Books|

* Formation (2023)

Related articles|

* Discography

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

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