Brad Mehldau, recently returned from a brief duo tour of Australia with label mate Joshua Redman, is set to perform an intimate solo set at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, DC, on Saturday. The Washington City Paper, in a preview of Saturday's show, calls Mehldau "a stately, melodious player whose sound has a natural gravity and splendid atmosphere ... His performances are wondrous, and this one promises to be no different."

Last month, Nonesuch Records released The Art of the Trio Recordings: 1996-2001, a seven-disc box set of the five original Art of the Trio records by the Brad Mehldau Trio, featuring Jorge Rossy and Larry Grenadier, plus a disc of unreleased material from shows at the Village Vanguard. The Washington Post in a review of the box set tied to his area performance this weekend, cites "an intuitive and highly interactive level of performance" in the collection.

JazzTimes describes the years covered in the Art of the Trio box set as "the Mehldau Era." From the first disc, what is "most evident," writes reviewer Thomas Conrad, "is a piano player whose extraordinary harmonic and rhythmic acuity elucidated a vision that was already personal."

From there, while that disc "seduces you," Conrad suggests, "Volume 2 knocks you down and runs you over. Mehldau is a year older; his band is a year tighter (and looser)." By the third disc, it is evident that "Mehldau is the virtuoso but Grenadier and Rossy give this band its levitational ensemble identity."

Recognizing the value of taking the time to look back at such an important group of musicians, the reviewer concludes: "One purpose of a retrospective box set is to provide a fresh vantage point on a body of music by enabling the listener to experience it whole. The best art requires time to release all of its revelations."

Read the complete review at jazztimes.com.

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Jambands is similarly effusive in its review of The Art of the Trio Recordings. "Few jazz acts in the last 20 years have mastered the art of the piano trio format quite like Brad Mehldau," begins reviewer Ron Hart.

The original recordings contained in the set "provided the quintessential platform for the pianist’s prowess on the baby grand with the ample backing of his longtime rhythm section," Hart explains. "Mehldau, Grenadier and Rossy delivered everything they played on these nights with such a keen sense of grace and lyricism that it all melds together into one seamless string of adventurous eloquence."

Hart goes on to provide further context for these important albums, both upon their initial release and through today.

"For those who felt that jazz had lost its way in the 1990s, this essential succession of performances by the Mehldau Trio gave many fans hope for a better tomorrow," he says. "Even if you already own the previous editions of these illuminating live recordings, this comprehensive package is well worth the re-investment and a solid reminder why Brad Mehldau has earned his place amongst the true masters of the jazz piano."

Read the complete review at jambands.com.

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The Irish Times recently gave The Art of the Trio Recordings a perfect five stars, calling the trio "state of the art" and saying their "music stands alongside the best that has been produced in jazz in the last 25 years." The box set had previously earned four-star reviews from both the Independent on Sunday and the Times of London.

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To pick up a copy of The Art of the Trio Recordings: 1996-2001, head to the Nonesuch Store now.

Mehldau joins his present-day trio, with Jeff Ballard on drums, for a tour of Europe stating at the end of February. For details, go to nonesuch.com/on-tour.