Brad Mehldau’s Ride Into the Sun Comes to Oakland
Brad Mehldau, the acclaimed pianist and composer known for blending jazz, classical, and pop influences, is returning to the Bay Area on Saturday, August 29, 2026, for a one-night-only SFJAZZ performance at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre. The Grammy Award-winning artist will perform music from “Ride Into the Sun,” his orchestral song cycle inspired by Elliott Smith.
Brad Mehldau. Photo: Yoshika Horita.
The project features Mehldau moving through Smith’s songbook with the melodic care and emotional intelligence that have characterized his work for decades. Besides Smith material, the program includes Mehldau’s original compositions inspired by the late songwriter, along with external pieces that expand the album’s context, such as Big Star’s “Thirteen” and Nick Drake’s “Sunday.” The result promises a performance larger than a tribute set: a fully developed concert piece crafted with chamber textures, songcraft, and Mehldau’s lyrical piano playing.
This Bay Area performance features a talented lineup. Mehldau will perform with Chris Thile, Blake Mills, Matt Chamberlain, and John Davis, alongside the USC Thornton Chamber Virtuosi Orchestra conducted by Dan Coleman, who also produced the album. This group indicates a program with impressive variety, capable of shifting from intimacy to grandeur while maintaining the emotional depth at the heart of Smith’s music.
For Bay Area fans, this is one of the most distinctive large-scale jazz-related events on the late-summer calendar: Mehldau, a prominent improviser, reinterprets Elliott Smith through orchestral textures, with a cast of musicians equally at home in jazz, folk, rock, and contemporary music.
Ticket info
Event: Brad Mehldau: Ride Into the Sun
Date: Saturday, August 29, 2026
Showtime: 8:00 PM
Venue: Paramount Theatre, Oakland
Special guests: Chris Thile, Blake Mills, Matt Chamberlain, and John Davis, with USC Thornton Chamber Virtuosi conducted by Dan Coleman.
Tickets are on sale now through SFJAZZ: https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/brad-mehldau-ride-into-the-sun/
