The Brad Mehldau Trio return to Europe and the UK for a mostly sold-out two week tour, beginning at the beautiful, new Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg tonight. The tour continues with shows in Sweden and Norway, then heads to the UK for dates in Leeds, Manchester, Norwich, London, and Bath, and culminates back in Germany with a set at JazzFest Bonn on May 22.

The ECHO Jazz 2017 Award nominations have been announced by the German Recording Academy, and among the nominees are Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau their debut duo album, Nearness; drummer Jeff Ballard for the Brad Mehldau Trio's latest album, Blues and Ballads; drummer Antonio Sánchez for the Pat Metheny Unity Group album The Unity Sessions; and trumpeter Cuong Vu for the album Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny. 

Congratulations to all of the Nonesuch Records artists who were nominated for the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, announced earlier today by The Recording Academy: Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman, Rhiannon Giddens, Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil, and John Adams. Together, these artists' Nonesuch releases have garnered a total of six nominations this year. The Grammy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 12, 2017, in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live on CBS.

The SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco has announced its 2016–17 concert season and featured among the performers taking the Miner Auditorium stage in the venue's fifth anniversary season are Pat Metheny with his new quartet; Brad Mehldau, revisiting his acclaimed 2010 album Highway Rider with his Trio, Joshua Redman, Mark Guiliana, and a chamber orchestra; and Emmylou Harris, who joins Rosanne Cash and Lucinda Williams in concert. Tickets go on sale to members on Saturday, June 25, and to the general public on Wednesday, July 13.

Today marks the release of Brad Mehldau Trio’s new album, Blues and Ballads, which comprises interpretations of songs by other composers, this time with the focus on blues and ballads implied by the album’s title. "Stellar jazz pianist Mehldau again proves that three is the magic number," says MOJO in a four-star review, "resurrecting the trio that has consistently advanced the jazz lexicon in the course of the past 20 years. A spellbinding set whose salient features are subtlety and understatement. Sublime stuff." The Times of London, in its five-star review, says: "Yet another rhapsodic rollercoaster from this master of romantic complexity."

The Brad Mehldau Trio—Mehldau on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Jeff Ballard on drums—launches a tour of the United States and Europe ahead of the forthcoming album Blues and Ballads, due June 3. The tour begins with a concert at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston this Friday, followed by stops in Albany, Philadelphia, DC, Oberlin, and Chicago. The group then heads to Europe for shows in Italy, Belgium, Denmark, France, and Switzerland.

Nonesuch Records releases the Brad Mehldau Trio’s Blues and Ballads, the trio’s first new release since 2012’s Where Do You Start, on June 3, 2016. Blues and Ballads comprises interpretations of songs by other composers, this time with the focus on blues and ballads implied by the album’s title, including works by Cole Porter, Charlie Parker, Lennon & McCartney, and Jon Brion. Blues and Ballads is available to pre-order with an instant download of the album track "Little Person," which you can preview here.

The Brad Mehldau Trio kicks off a 10-day tour of North America with a free show at the George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center in New Orleans tonight, followed by stops in San Antonio, Mexico City, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland. From there, the Trio heads to Europe for a three-week tour, stopping in several cities in the Netherlands—Groningen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Tilburg, Maastricht, and Utrecht—and in Germany, France, Hungary, Romania, and Italy.

Brad Mehldau Trio kicks off a two-week tour of Europe with a performance at the Opéra de Rouen in Rouen, France. It's the first of several performances in the country, followed by stops in Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, and Italy. The Trio's set at the Philarmonie in Paris this Saturday is one of three nights Mehldau plays there this weekend, also including a solo set and a special duo concert with Tigran Hamasyan. Following the European tour, the Trio returns to the States for six-night residency at the Village Vanguard in NYC in early May. 

Brad Mehldau Trio kicks off a ten-day, eight-city US tour at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts in Davis, California, tonight. It's the first of three stops in the state, including Stanford and a double bill in Northridge with The Bad Plus, followed by shows in Phoenix, Durham, Philadelphia, Boston, and Albany. Mehldau's electric duo album with drummer Mark Guiliana, Mehliana: Taming the Dragon, was named to Jazzwise magazine's list of the Best Albums of the Year. 

Stanford Live has announced its 2014–15 season, and featured among the performers taking the stage at Bing Concert Hall are a number of artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Chris Thile & Edgar Meyer, Toumani Diabaté & Sidiki Diabaté, Emmylou Harris, Kronos Quartet, and Brad Mehldau Trio, as well as the world premiere of a new piece by John Adams and a celebration of the work of Stephen Sondheim.

Congratulations to all of the Nonesuch artists who were nominated for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, announced last night by The Recording Academy: The Black Keys, Dan Auerbach, Amadou & Mariam, Björk, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Ry Cooder, Dr. John, Brad Mehldau, and Pat Metheny. Together, these artists have garnered an astounding 14 nominations, including a remarkable five nominations for The Black Keys' latest album, El Camino. You can hear music from all the nominated albums on the new Nonesuch Radio channel "2012 Grammy Nominees."