Chris Thile, the host of A Prairie Home Companion, welcomed label mate Brad Mehldau to the show as a special guest this past weekend. They performed two songs from their debut duo album: Mehldau's tune "The Watcher" and the David Rawlings / Gillian Welch song "Scarlet Town." You can watch their performance of the latter here. Mehldau also contributes a solo improvisation to the episode, which you can hear at prairiehome.org. 

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. 

Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau were the guests on NPR's World Cafe. They spoke with host David Dye and performed three songs from their just-released debut duo album together: Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," David Rawling and Gillian Welch's "Scarlet Town," and Elliott Smith's "Independence Day." "It is extraordinary," says host Dye of the new album. "Two players from different genres, bluegrass and jazz, further the thinking that genres are just not that important to improvisers." Find out what they had to say and hear the performances here.

Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau, the debut duo album from the Nonesuch labelmates, is out now. At the end of 2015, the longtime admirers of each other's work played a two-night stand at NYC's Bowery Ballroom (videos from which you can watch here) before going into the studio to record the double album. "This meeting of two masters of their respective realms is a spine-tingling triumph," raves a five-star Irish Times review. The Guardian gives the album four stars, saying: "Two very different musicians hit a remarkable rapport on this double album." The four-star BBC Music Magazine review says "the vivid dynamic really puts a bright face on this mix of original and old song covers from across the jazz, folk and country spectrum." 

Mandolinist/singer Chris Thile and pianist Brad Mehldau make their duo debut together with Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau, a mix of covers and original songs, out this Friday, January 27, 2017. Here, the label mates and longtime admirers of each other's work speak with writer Michael Hill about the project and how it came to be.

Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau will release their self-titled debut duo album on January 27. At the end of 2015, they played a two-night stand at Bowery Ballroom in NYC before going into the studio to record the album, a mix of original songs and covers, like Elliott Smith's "Independence Day." You can now watch a video of their Bowery Ballroom performance of the song here. The album track may be downloaded now with pre-orders of Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau, along with their take on "Scarlet Town," written by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch.

Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau were guests on CBS This Morning Saturday. They stopped gave a Saturday Sessions performance of three songs from their forthcoming debut duo album, Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau: Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice It's Alright," Elliott Smith's "Independence Day," and Thile and Mehldau's own "The Old Shade Tree." The selection reflects the mix of covers and original songs on the new double album, which is due January 27. You can watch the performances here.

Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau were featured on PBS NewsHour yesterday, the day they were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for their debut duo album, Nearness. The longtime friends, collaborators, and Nonesuch label mates spoke with NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown about making music together, or, as the show says, "how a passion for improvisation can make beautiful music." You can watch the interview and a performance of the album track "Old West" from the show here.

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.

Nonesuch labelmates mandolinist/singer Chris Thile and pianist Brad Mehldau played a two-night stand at NYC's Bowery Ballroom at the end of 2015 before going into the studio to record Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau, a mix of covers and original songs due January 27, 2017, on two CDs / LPs. The vinyl edition includes a bonus performance of Fiona Apple's "Fast As You Can." Pre-orders include an instant download of the album track "Scarlet Town," written by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch. You can watch a live performance of the song here.

Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau embark on a two-month world tour in support of their new album, Nearness. The duo tour starts in the US this week, making stops in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, NYC, and LA, before a four-night run at SFJAZZ with an orchestra performing Mehldau's album Highway Rider. The international leg of the duo tour begins in Tokyo, Seoul, and Shanghai, then heads to Australia for shows in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, and to Europe for dates in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, France, Netherlands, and the UK.

Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau released their debut duo album, Nearness, on Nonesuch last week to critical acclaim. "Few records released this year better define what jazz sounds like today," exclaims the Wall Street Journal. The review notes the "stellar intuitive interplay between the musicians" and sums up the album as "an impressive work that showcases two active minds smartly updating classics." Redman and Mehldau spoke with writer Michael Hill about the album and their long friendship and history of working together. You can read what they had to say here.