Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau

(Nonesuch)

IT was, I think, the Pitchfork website that said of (if I recall correctly) David Byrne, that “he would collaborate with anyone for a packet of Doritos”. I remember it (perhaps imperfectly), because that seems to define the artists whose work I enjoy most. Chris Thile, wunderkid of the mandolin and multi-faceted member of Nickel Creek and the Punch Brothers as well as solo artist and duo partner of bassist Edgar Meyer, is one such, and this is his latest diverting pathway. Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau has made a remarkable series of trio and solo albums for Warner Brothers and Nonesuch, first played with Thile during a Wigmore Hall residency, and the pair recorded this set on the back of concerts in New York’s Bowery Ballroom.

With Thile supplying vocals on such reborn standards as I Cover the Waterfront and Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright, the eleven tracks (spread over two half-hour-long CDs, presumably for high fidelity reasons, as well as being a double vinyl album) feature nearly as many high quality originals from the two as well as tunes from the catalogues of Gillian Welch, Elliot Smith, and Joni Mitchell.

When the pair cut loose instrumentally, this is a jazz album – but don’t let that put you off.

Keith Bruce