Also this issue: Running' Lapse Relapse Records' Matt Jacobson explains why he chose Philadelphia for Contamination. -Paul Burress Smiths and Lessons How Johnny Marr got here from there -- and ended up singing? -Nicole Pensiero Sweet Tooth -Ainé Ardron-Doley Patti Smith -Nicole Pensiero Don Conoscenti -Nicole Pensiero HearHere -Patrick Rapa DJ Nights -Sean O'Neal Beat Box -Ainé Ardron-Doley

January 16-22, 2003

musicpicks

Brad Mehldau

jazz

Racing at the speed of his 88-keyed cranial encyclopedia, pianist Brad Mehldau's hands fly through fractured, Monk-like fairy tales of hyper-whimsy and woe, the cornball lyricism of Hoagy Carmichael, the Zen mathematics of Keith Jarrett and the emotional chill of Bill Evans. Yet Mehldau, having sucked in the signatures of heroes, sounds like none of them. Even after nine CDs, his distaff emotionalism and steely reserves put him more in a league of vocal divas, a Callas of the piano. While it is his Art of the Trio series that's made his lively sense of athleticism (and even camp humor, via his takes on "The More I See You" and "How Long Has This Been Going On") famous, the mood-swingy Largo (Warner Bros.) dips into cooler, abstract, even quaintly kitschy waters. Produced by Jon Brion, Largo is a heavy hipster paradise of brass, reeds, electro-vibes and high-strung strings that never fails to let Mehldau flail frantically ("Paranoid Android") or rail calmly, barely holding back the tears ("When It Rains"). You want a strong shot of atmosphere and intensity with those tempo changes and miracle modulations? Dig the way Mehldau mixes woozy Beatles-meets-Braziliana cocktails against sober rhythms when he plays the Zellerbach solo this Saturday. Dig that, chickie.

Sat., Jan. 18, 7:30 p.m., $10-$20, Zellerbach Theatre, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900.

—A.D. Amorosi