Live in Marclac(2CDs/1DVD) Nonesuch *****

Mehldau's awesome ability to keep several ideas on the go simultaneously is among the features of this phenomenal solo piano concert he gave at the Marciac Jazz Festival in 2006. And whether developing them contrapuntally, building dense textures of colour over a simple recurring figure, or pursuing a motif through variation on variation, the clarity of his thought is never in doubt. It's as clear in the implacable momentum he gives to uptempo performances such as his own Resignationand Trailer Park Ghost, and Nick Drake's Things Behind the Sun, as it is in the gentler lyricism of James Allen Shelton's lovely Lilac Wine, Mehldau's Goodbye Storytellerand the graceful 3/4 of My Favourite Things. And the technique to serve his ideas is abundantly illuminated in the DVD of the concert. A joy at every level – and another contender for the year's best. See nonesuch.com