Anything Goes is a modern jazz album by the Brad Mehldau Trio. The trio consists of Brad Mehldau on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Jorge Rossy on drums. One thing I love about jazz trios and quartets is the astounding amount of material they can produce with such minimal instrumentation. Jazz trios generally sound less cluttered, as they have less instruments. Larger jazz groups can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. That being said, there are always exceptions to both of these. I really enjoyed listening to this album. Anything Goes covers lots of ground in jazz music from the upbeat “Skippy” to ballads like “Nearness Of You” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face”. This album also features a more latin tune, “Tres Palabras” and a cover of Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place”.

My favorite track is “Dreamsville”, a ballad. I really love the chords in this track. The first chord alone reminded me of some of Vince Guaraldi’s works, mostly off of his Charlie Brown Christmas album.

Another highlight is the trio’s cover of Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place“, written by Thom Yorke. This track is likely Radiohead’s most popular track, as it is covered by many artists and is played at most of their concerts. This cover starts with an open bass solo, followed by the iconic descending bassline that starts Radiohead’s version.This track was the first song that Yorke wrote on a piano that he bought, although the original version is performed on a keyboard. Considering that the original song was made on a piano, it’s nice to see Mehldau bringing the track back to its roots while still putting his own spin on it.

Anything Goes is a really nice, mellow jazz album that is very accessible to most audiences. You don’t have to be really into jazz or know anything about jazz theory to appreciate this kind of music (or most jazz music, in my opinion). In short, this album is really chill, really pretty, and really great.

Favorite Track: Dreamsville