– GUERRILLA WARFARE –

Brad Mehldau’s been doing a spot of God-bothering. The legendary jazz / classical pianist has been reading the ‘Good Book’ and finding some pretty prescient messages for the modern world by the sound of it.

“The Bible felt like a corollary and perhaps a guide to the present day—one long nightmare or a signpost leading to potential gnosis, depending on how you read it,” he says. “With all the supposed connectivity, it seems that we are more separated from each other than ever, submerged in the deep water of unhappy solitude. Where to turn for the truth? Ask, with a humble heart, listen deeply, and the answers will come.”

The result of all this rumination is the album, Finding Gabriel, nine thematically related songs featuring guest performances by the likes of trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire (45 RPM review), drummer and long-time collaborator Mark Guiliana and singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane (45 RPM review).

The Garden features all of the above and kicks off the album with one of the most explosive, expressive and frankly evangelical opening cuts you are likely to hear all year.

Rocket-powered by Guiliana’s relentless kit-bashing, the choir of angels (otherwise known as Mehldau, Kahane and singer/songwriter Becca Stevens) helps the track ascend to near-celestial levels.

It’s a chaotically gorgeous track that crosses the boundaries of electronic and rock music.

It is both the sacred and the profane, the holy and the heretical, the godless and the guiltless.

Finding Gabriel is out on 17 May.

MORE FROM THIS WEEK’S MIX

FLYING LOTUS: TAKASHI
BRONX SLANG: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
MADISON MCFERRIN: NO TIME TO LOSE
ISHMAEL ENSEMBLE FEAT. YAZZ AHMED: THE RIVER

P.S. You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the 45 RPM Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

– SV –