The Brad Mehldau Trio, featuring Larry Grenadier on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums, returns with Ode, an album of 11 previously unreleased songs composed by Mehldau. The record, which is the first from the trio since 2008’s Live Village Vanguard disc and the first studio trio recording since 2005’s Day Is Done, is out this week in the UK and this coming Tuesday in North America. Many of the songs on the new album were written as tributes, or “odes,” to real and fictional people, such as the late saxophonist Michael Brecker (“M.B.”), a character from the film Easy Rider (“Wyatt’s Eulogy for George Hanson”), and the guitarist Kurt Ronsenwinkel (“Kurt Vibe”).

Ode was released in the UK to great critical acclaim, earning perfect five-star reviews from the Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times. "This new album shows his inventive powers are as fresh as ever," exclaims Telegraph reviewer Ivan Hewett. "Mehldau's talent for revealing the grandeur latent in modest ideas has never seemed so persuasive, and the interplay with drummer Jeff Ballard and bassist Larry Grenadier is masterly." In the Financial Times' five-star review, Mike Hobart sums up the album as "Fluent, subtle and benchmark piano-trio jazz."

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"Ode has been eagerly anticipated," writes the BBC's Martin Longley in his review, and it certainly seems to have been worth the wait.

Mehldau "is an exceptionally thorough worker, as he chews over a melody’s myriad possibilities, working out variations with staccato finesse," writes Longley. "He navigates midway between an expected jazz improvising framework and a more linear pop song format. Each tune usually unwinds with a deeply-rooted logical progression. Momentum is invariably paramount. Melody lines are crucial, but Mehldau is still journeying far beyond their beginnings, once a piece is underway."

And Mehldau is not alone here. Longley concludes: "All three players are articulating a ceaseless stream of fresh ideas throughout this electrically energised session."

Read the complete review at bbc.co.uk.

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MusicOMH gives Ode four-and-a-half stars. "Mehldau has successfully managed to veer away from composing works which simply serve as showcases for his own virtuoso skills and instead focuses on the terrific interplay between Mehldau and his sidekicks, Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard," explains reviewer Colm McAuliffe.

"Ode is an often scintillating and always joyful listen from beginning to end," McAuliffe concludes. "While the theme of the album may be dedications to others, what Mehldau has ultimately crafted is an ode to the confidence, style and precision of his own trio’s playing, displaying all the panache and charm of old companions reuniting once more."

Read the complete review at musicomh.com.

The Scotsman gives the album four stars. "Mehldau's characteristic singing melodies, intriguing harmonies and supple rhythmic grooves are all firmly in place," concludes reviewer Kenny Mathieson, "and draw out a high level of creative interaction and response in the three musicians."

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Back in the US, where the album is out this coming Tuesday, March 20, early critical response has been similarly effusive.

Ode is "the most comfortably centered work of Mr. Mehldau’s recent career," says the New York Times music critic Nate Chinen. "That shouldn’t be taken as faint praise. This trio has developed its own language and a sound that’s instantly recognizable despite a growing field of emulators." Chinen finds that "most of the trio’s hallmarks are here: resonant lyricism, floating locomotion, a harmonic approach that brings depth to simple structures and sleekness to the more complex ones." Read the review at nytimes.com.

The Los Angeles Times' Chris Barton, in the paper's spring jazz preview, says Mehldau "delivers a diverse collection of probing originals." The Chicago Tribune includes the album among the year's best jazz recordings so far. With Ode, "Mehldau turns in light, lithe, exceedingly elegant work alongside drummer Jeff Ballard and bassist Larry Grenadier," says the Tribune's Howard Reich. Mehldau's "playing sounds rhythmically dynamic and crystalline in touch throughout," and the tunes "show Mehldau in prime form as composer, improviser and bandleader." Read more at chicagotribune.com.

The Buffalo News, describing Mehldau as "the leading intellectual of contemporary jazz piano," says of the new album: "The playing by Mehldau and his two trio-mates is as impressive and intuitive as any this side of Keith Jarrett’s Standards Trio."

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To reserve a copy of Ode, head to the Nonesuch Store, where CD orders include an instant download of the title track available upon checkout and MP3s of the complete album available Tuesday.

The Brad Mehldau Trio is currently on tour in Europe, performing this week in France, followed by performances in the Netherlands and Italy, and will tour the States in May. For details, go to nonesuch.com/on-tour.