Justin Poon is a sixth-semester student at Berklee studying performance and electronic production and design. As a founding member of Affiliated Gallery, a creative design group based in Toronto, Justin is involved in film scoring and sound design. He is also involved in producing for singers and hip-hop artists wherever he can find them. He apologizes sincerely for the dotted eighth-notes in his transcription.

“Long Before” is a tune out of one of my all-time favorite jazz records, Metheny Mehldau Quartet. The album features the two masters with Brad Mehldau’s signature trio members, Jeff Ballard on drums and Larry Grenadier on bass. The music in the album is certainly not award-winning innovation in jazz harmony, but the material is played (and mixed) so well that it feels very organic. The interplay between the musicians is so obvious that it enables one to truly experience the essence and spirit of jazz. If someone were to ask me what records a newcomer to jazz should listen to, I would definitely include this album in that list.

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