Mandolin meets jazz piano at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington

Posted Thursday, April 11, 2013 11:08 am

GREAT BARRINGTON -- Multi-hyphenated musician Chris Thile -- mandolinist-singer-composer -- said it is difficult to easily categorize his upcoming performance with jazz pianist Brad Mehldau at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. Both musicians avoid the harsh restrictions imposed by genre classifications, he said, that both the mainstream music industry and modern music listeners try to force upon artists.

The mandolin and the piano are an unlikely pair, and the two men's improv-heavy joint performances covers an equally unlikely sampling of music. The concert will touch on everything from Bach to Radiohead, but Thile said that Mahaiwe audiences should expect to find more similarities than differences between music from such vastly dissimilar eras.

"A great Radiohead piece has a lot more in common with a great piece like one of Brandenburg's concertos than people would normally categorize it as having," Thile said. "Once you enter that level of quality in music, you've made it into something that transcends classification."

The same could be said for the careers of both Thile and Mehldau. A 2012 MacArthur Fellow, Thile was only 5 when he first started playing the mandolin. By the time he turned eight, he was playing the instrument as part of Nickel Creek, an acoustic trio that also consisted of brother-and-sister team Sara and Sean Watkins, who played the fiddle and guitar, respectively. As time went on, Thile's skill and fame increased, as he won the National Mandolin Championship at only 12 years old and has since gone on to win a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk album for the Nickel Creek platinum-selling album, "This Side."

Thile began his solo career while he was playing as part of Nickel Creek, releasing his first solo album, "Leading Off," in 1994. He has released five solo albums through Sugar Hill Records and has collaborated with major symphonies and Dolly Parton, and recorded "The Goat Rodeo Sessions" with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, fiddle player Stuart Duncan and bassist Edgar Mayer, which was released in 2011.

Since Nickel Creek stopped performing together as a group in 2007, Thile has been part of bluegrass band Punch Brothers.

"I really love all kinds of music, but my only requirement is that it has to be music that keeps me engaged," Thile said. "I want my mind to be engaged and my body to be engaged. I don't want music that is only made for my body, or music that is only made for my mind -- I'm looking for music that does both."

One musician who certainly does both is Mehldau, who leads the Brad Mehldau Trio and, like Thile, collaborates with an array of artists who offer something of a cross-section of the diversity of the modern musical landscape, from a mandolinist like Thile to famed soprano Renée Fleming and jazz guitarist Pat Metheny.

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Mehldau, who, like Thile, is making his Mahaiwe debut on Saturday, started his trio in 1994, and has a diverse musical resume that includes jazz arrangements of rock songs, original compositions and traditional jazz standards. Besides being featured on countless albums, his work has been included on the soundtracks of films like Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut."

Alternating with his performances with Thile, Mehldau is touring with fellow jazz pianist Kevin Hays and is collaborating with drummer Mark Guiliana on an electric duo project called "Mehliana."

Thile has admired Mehldau since he was a child. When they are on stage, Thile said, they share a common musical language.

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"We take a lot of delight in letting factors dictate the way the music ends up," Thile said. "I've always appreciated Brad's approach to music, in that everything he does is in service to the song."

The concert is a unique collaboration between two dynamic performers that Mahaiwe Executive Director Beryl Jolly said should be an "eye-opening experience for the audience."

"They are open to breaking new ground," Jolly said.

The pair's concert comes after a string of successful performances at the Mahaiwe with duos of artists from vastly divergent backgrounds and styles, she said: From theater legend and New York cabaret mainstay Barbara Cook paired with jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli to Jimmy Webb with Judy Collins, Jolly said that the Mahaiwe has been fortunate to "offer these exciting collaborations in an intimate setting."

The setting should lead to a close connection between audience and performer, Thile said.

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"Over the course of the evening, we'll touch on something that feels familiar yet new," he said. "We'll toss you a rope and invite you to follow along with us."

If you go ...

What: Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau in concert

Where: Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle St., Great Barrington

When: Saturday at 8 p.m.

Admission: $25-$47

Information: (413) 528-0100, www.mahaiwe.org