Brad Mehldau sat down with Qobuz’s Marc Zisman to discuss his new live solo album, Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles, and the challenges of translating the Beatles into solo piano music, as well as his childhood listening habits, moving to Los Angeles in his twenties, what makes a song universal, chasing inspiration, his influences and mentors, and more.

“I think one of the things that the Beatles were so great at was making an album-length experience from 35-60 minutes long that tells a kind of story,” says Mehldau. “So, I wanted to do that, if I could, as well. So, that meant making variety and these little dichotomies between something that’s Paul and more beautiful and something that’s John and a little more abrasive and sort of put those next to each other.” You can watch the video here:

Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles features the pianist and composer’s interpretations of nine songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and one by George Harrison. Although other Beatles songs have long been staples of Mehldau’s solo and trio shows, he had not previously recorded any of the tunes on Your Mother Should Know. The album, recorded in September 2020 at Philharmonie de Paris, ends with a David Bowie classic that draws a connection between The Beatles and pop songwriters who followed. You can get it and hear it here.