M.T.B., Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner, Peter Bernstein, Larry Grenadier, Bill Stewart - Solid Jackson (2024) [Hi-Res

This second gathering of MTB (titled for the surnames of Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner and Peter Bernstein,) is an intense, focused recital that reinforces the exalted position each member holds in the 2024 jazz landscape. Everyone listens. No one overplays or goes for "house." The ambiance is one of concentrated excellence.

When eminent jazz practitioners with shared histories convene in the studio without rehearsal or preparatory gigs, a perfunctory, by-the-numbers session is often the outcome. That is decidedly not the case on Solid Jackson, whose personnel, four of whom participated on the well-wrought day-after-Christmas of 1994 Criss Cross album titled Consenting Adults, reside in any hardcore jazz connoisseur's "top-five."

All in all, the session is, as the cliche goes, "all killer, no filler," performed at a level that might have provoked Charlie Haden to respond with a hearty "Solid Jackson." "There was a natural blend," Bernstein says. "We all go way back, and everyone was very comfortable being around each other. One thing I like about making a record is that you're able to spend a day with people you've been meaning to hang out with for a long time. It's not just a party. You're working, too. But that's how we interact socially - by playing music. I was amazed. It's 30 years after we did the first one, but everyone is relatively intact. It's really a miracle. We're all still here; we get to play together again."

Brad Mehldau: piano
Mark Turner: tenor saxophone
Peter Bernstein: guitar
Larry Grenadier: bass
Bill Stewart: drums