Mehldau's trio was, in Hobart's words, "the first successfully to add post-Beatles pop into the jazz repertoire without trivialising either",[REF] and shifted the "traditional emphasis on bravura technique and group dynamics [..] to a focus on subtleties of touch and where-my-fancy-takes-me musings."[REF]
In 2013 Chinen stated that "Mehldau is the most influential jazz pianist of the last 20 years" [REF].