1991–1998 Mehldau's first recording was for Hollyday's
The Natural Moment in 1991; Mehldau also played as
sideman with other musicians around this time. His performances with saxophonist
Perico Sambeat included a tour of Europe early in 1993, and Mehldau's first released recordings as co-leader, from a May concert in
Barcelona. Mehldau toured for 18 months with saxophonist
Joshua Redman. , photographed in 2009 Mehldau graduated from The New School in 1993. He formed his first long-term trio in 1994, with bassist
Larry Grenadier and drummer
Jorge Rossy. In the following year, Mehldau recorded
Introducing Brad Mehldau for
Warner Bros., his first album as sole leader. It was well received, with
The Penguin Guide to Jazz commenting that "it's as if he were aware of jazz tradition but entirely unencumbered by it." His second album for Warner Bros.,
The Art of the Trio Volume One, was recorded in 1996 and was widely praised by critics. The appreciation was not universal: some of the pianist's self-penned liner notes and interview comments, which included philosophical musings and complaints about comparisons with pianist
Bill Evans, engendered dislike in some, thereby, in critic Nate Chinen's words, "leaving Mehldau with a lingering reputation for pretentiousness and self-indulgence." an assessment that was perhaps attributable more to race than to music. Another, non-musical, similarity with Evans that was commented on was Mehldau's struggle with an addiction to
heroin during the 1990s, up to 1998. Mehldau later stated: "Once I stopped using heroin, it was like a rush of creativity that had been held in check came out". In 1996, Mehldau made the first of several recordings with saxophonist
Lee Konitz and bassist
Charlie Haden. Mehldau's contributions to film music continued in 1997, with an accompanist role for some of the tracks recorded for
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
Live at the Village Vanguard: The Art of the Trio Volume Two consisted entirely of
standards, and was recorded at a series of 1997 concerts at the
Village Vanguard, and released the following year. The title again attracted attention, as concert recordings from the same club had been issued by some of the biggest names in jazz, including Evans, and saxophonists Coltrane and
Sonny Rollins. The studio album
Songs: The Art of the Trio Volume Three followed later in 1998, and contained Mehldau originals, standards, plus
Nick Drake's "
River Man", and
Radiohead's "
Exit Music (For a Film)". This album was chosen by Fordham as his jazz CD of the year. Mehldau became established on the international jazz festival scene in the mid- to late 1990s, having played at events such as the
Montreal International Jazz Festival and the
Montreux Jazz Festival in 1997, and the
North Sea Jazz Festival in 1998. Also in 1998, the pianist reunited with Redman for the saxophonist's
Timeless Tales (For Changing Times), and played on
country artist
Willie Nelson's
Teatro. That summer, Mehldau spent a few months in Germany, developing his interest in its language, literature, and music. Also in 1999, Mehldau was pianist for two albums by saxophonist
Charles Lloyd. In the following year,
Places, an album containing both Mehldau solo piano pieces and trio performances, was released. All of the tracks were Mehldau originals, and were based on his experiences of visiting and revisiting various locations worldwide. Looking back on his earlier career, Mehldau commented in 2005 that "The trio created my identity". In 2001 Mehldau expanded from playing on film soundtracks, which had included
The Million Dollar Hotel and
Space Cowboys, to scoring, with the French film
Ma femme est une actrice. While trio performances and recordings continued, Mehldau began in the early to mid-2000s to broaden the musical settings in which he appeared as leader. An early instance was his 2002 album
Largo, which was Mehldau's first departure from piano solo or trio albums. It was produced by
Jon Brion, whom Mehldau had met at a California club that hosted weekly
happenings. As of 2010, this was reported to be Mehldau's best-selling album.
Anything Goes, released in 2004, contained performances of compositions by others; the Mehldau originals were released two years later on
House on Hill. A solo piano recording from a 2003 concert,
Live in Tokyo, showed greater lyricism appearing in Mehldau's playing,
2005–2019 , drummer in Mehldau's trio from 2005 In 2005 Ballard replaced Rossy as the drummer in Mehldau's trio. This, in the view of critic Ray Comiskey, did not radically change the trio's sound, but it did give them "a harder edge and pushed Mehldau more, with bassist Larry Grenadier left more in a fulcrum role, the centre around which piano and drums cavort." Another critic, Ben Ratliff, suggested that the new trio's sound was "denser and more tumultuous", with rhythms more overt than with the previous trio. In February 2005 Mehldau performed in Hong Kong for the first time, with his new trio. Their first album,
Day Is Done, was recorded the following month. Mehldau continued to expand beyond trio and solo playing. In the spring of 2005 he premiered a
song cycle that he had written for classical music singer
Renée Fleming. Mehldau also collaborated with guitarist
Pat Metheny from 2005 – they recorded two albums together that year, along with Grenadier and Ballard, and in 2007 went on a worldwide tour. Another Village Vanguard recording,
Brad Mehldau Trio Live, was recorded in 2006 and released two years later. This also contained a variety of sources of material, including "
Wonderwall" by rock band
Oasis, "
Black Hole Sun" by grunge band
Soundgarden, and
Chico Buarque's samba "O Que Será"; "it's business as usual – state-of-the-art contemporary jazz piano", commented Fordham. Mehldau asserted that his third solo recording "is the beginning of a freer approach, [...] and maybe [contains] more ease and fluidity in a musical texture with several simultaneous voices". In 2006 Mehldau also played on saxophonist
Michael Brecker's final album,
Pilgrimage. In March 2007 Mehldau first performed his piano concerto "The Brady Bunch Variations for Piano and Orchestra", with the
Orchestre national d'Île-de-France at the
Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Later that decade, Carnegie Hall awarded Mehldau another commission – to write the song cycle
Love Songs for singer
Anne Sofie von Otter; they premiered it together in 2009 and
recorded the songs the following year. In 2009 Mehldau began a two-year period as curator of London's
Wigmore Hall jazz series, which included a performance with von Otter in the second year. In 2009 Mehldau also recorded
Highway Rider, an album that combined his usual trio with guest musicians and a 28-piece orchestra. Mehldau's trio returned to the studio for the first time in several years in 2008 and again in 2011, resulting in
Ode, an album of the pianist's originals, and
Where Do You Start, an album of covers.
DownBeat reviewer Jim Macnie commented that, on the former album, "More than ever, Mehldau uses his instrument as a drum, popping staccato notes into the maw of the rhythm section's formidable bustle." He also played and recorded piano duets with
Kevin Hays. This collaboration was on arrangements by
Patrick Zimmerli, with whom Mehldau had attended high school. had piano–mandolin duets with
Chris Thile, and played a series of duet concerts with Redman in Europe, six pieces from which were released five years later on the album
Nearness. In 2012 Mehldau and the
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra performed his "Variations for Piano and Orchestra on a Melancholy Theme" in Europe. In 2013 Mehldau began touring with drummer
Mark Guiliana as a synthesizer-oriented duo that was given the portmanteau name "Mehliana". Their playing was largely improvised, and distantly influenced by
dub,
drum 'n' bass,
electro, and
funk. They released an album,
Mehliana: Taming the Dragon, in February 2014. Late in 2015, a collection of solo piano recordings from Mehldau's concerts in Europe in the 2004–14 period was released, entitled
10 Years Solo Live. Another trio recording with Grenadier and Ballard,
Blues and Ballads, was recorded in 2012 and 2014 and was released in 2016. Also in 2016, Mehldau and Guiliana formed a trio with guitarist
John Scofield; they played in the United States before touring Europe. Mehldau's interest in classical music continued with commissions by several concert halls to write pieces that were inspired by
Johann Sebastian Bach compositions; he played these and the Bach originals in solo performances during 2015. They were the origins of his solo piano album
After Bach, which was recorded in 2017 and released the following year. This release was followed by
Seymour Reads the Constitution!, another trio album with Grenadier and Ballard, later that year. His next album, released in 2019, was
Finding Gabriel, which "comprises nine thematically related songs by Mehldau and features performances by him on piano, synthesizers, percussion, and Fender Rhodes, as well as vocal." In the same year, Mehldau performed another of his commissioned song cycles at Wigmore Hall, this time with
Ian Bostridge.
2020–present Mehldau recorded two solo piano albums in 2020:
Suite: April 2020, a studio album consisting of original pieces inspired by the
COVID-19 pandemic as well as covers of songs by
Neil Young,
Billy Joel, and
Jerome Kern, and a live album,
Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles, featuring 10 songs by
The Beatles and an encore by
David Bowie. ''
Jacob's Ladder'', an album that explored the progressive rock musical influences of Mehldau's youth, was recorded in 2020 and 2021 and released in 2022. He later commented that the album was made when he was going through "a breakdown. It's all there – the descent, the way through and the way out." That same year, he recorded his song cycle
The Folly of Desire with
Ian Bostridge, for the
Pentatone label. A memoir covering his early life,
Formation: Building a Personal Canon, Part 1, was published by Equinox Press in 2023. and
Après Fauré. The quintet album
Solid Jackson, with
Mark Turner and
Peter Bernstein, was also recorded that year for the
Criss Cross Jazz label.
Ride into the Sun, an album with compositions by or inspired by singer-songwriter
Elliott Smith, and featuring a chamber orchestra and various guests performers, was recorded in 2025 and nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Jazz Album. ==Influences and artistry==