DESCRIPTION:
Elan Mehler - I Want To Leave You (After Suite, Brownswood Recordings, 2009)

lyrics and vocals by Adam McBride-Smith
Jeremy Viner: tenor saxophone;
Elan Mehler: piano;
Scott Spivak: Fender Rhodes;
Tod Hedrick: bass;
Max Goldman: drums;
Adam McBride-Smith: vocals

www.elanmehler.com
www.myspace.com/elanmehlerquartet
www.gillespetersonworldwide.com/brownswood-recordings

The boldest statement to date from Elan Mehler -- one of the most compelling artists to be unearthed through the efforts of Gilles Peterson's Brownswood label -- and clearly a compositional talent to watch in the 21st Century! Mehler's style is very hard to peg -- at some level, he starts out in jazz, but then really moves into other more sensitive spaces -- with a sound that's almost cinematic at times, but still very personal and up-close -- never too overblown, and always guided by the intimacy of his own fragile lines on piano. The instrumentation here is more expanded than some of Mehler's other recordings -- with tenor, Fender Rhodes, bass, and drums coming into play alongside Elan's acoustic piano -- plus a bit of vocals from Becca Stevens and Adam McBride-Smith, whose presence on a few tracks gives them a tighter structure than some of the more open instrumental ones. The whole thing's definitely in the same spirit as other UK instrumental adventurists over the years -- like Chris Bowden, Cinematic Orchestra, or Heritage Orchestra -- but it's also got a more personal feel too, definitely Mehler's own poetic take on sound. Titles include "Factory", "The 54th Leap", "The New Breed", "After Suite (parts 1 & 2)", "I Dream A Highway", "Notom Road", "He Nay Ma Tov", and "Post Script".