Elegiac Cycle

Elegiac Cycle is a solo piano album by Brad Mehldau. It was issued in 1999 by Warner Bros. produced by Mehldau himself.

Elegiac Cycle
Studio album by Brad Mehldau
Released	June 8, 1999
Recorded	February 1–2, 1999
Studio	Mad Hatter Studios (Los Angeles)
Genre	Jazz, post-romanticism
Length	56:47
Label	Warner Bros. 9362-47357-2
Producer	Brad Mehldau, Michael Davenport
Brad Mehldau chronology
Songs: The Art of the Trio Volume Three (1998) Elegiac Cycle (1999) Art of the Trio 4: Back at the Vanguard (1999)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	[2]
Sputnikmusic	4.4/5[3]

Background and music

Mehldau described the influence of James Joyce's Ulysses on the album being "cyclical in design, with a theme that began the record and returned at the ending, just as Odysseus's journey was a circular one in which he eventually arrived home".^[4] He also mentioned Joyce's use of Latin translated into English in the novel as an inspiration for a musical effect in "Memory's Tricks": "I silently depressed the notes of its meoldic motif with one hand, and with them held down, improvised other lines with the other hand, allowing the motif to peak out in the sympathetic vibrations that arose from the soundboard."^[4]

French edition

In 2011, the French publisher Outre Mesure released in both English and French the complete transcription note for note of Elegiac Cycle, and some musical commentaries by Philippe André, the original manuscript “lead sheets” of Brad Mehldau and a long and recent interview by Ludovic Florin about the genesis of the record and where the musician stands with it now.

Track listing

All pieces composed by Brad Mehldau

1. "Bard" 2:45
2. "Resignation" 5:34
3. "Memory's Tricks" 9:17
4. "Elegy for William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg" 4:43
5. "Lament for Linus" 1:27
6. "Trailer Park Ghost" 9:19
7. "Goodbye Storyteller (for Fred Myrow)" 10:27
8. "Rückblick" 8:56
9. "The Bard Returns" 4:16

Personnel

Primary artist

• Brad Mehldau - piano, producer, liner notes

Production

• Lawrence Azerrad – art direction, design
• Alisha Chamberlain – assistant engineer
• Michael Davenport – executive producer, management
• Alan Yoshida – mastering
• John Clark – photography
• Bernie Kirsch – recording