Brad Mehldau Plays Elliott Smith

'Ride into the Sun' extends a musical and personal affinity.

Brad Mehldau’s Ride into the Sun releases on Nonesuch on Aug. 29. (Yoshika Horita)

Sea and sky converging in a blurred horizon.

Maybe that sounds like a bad image prompt for ChatGPT, but it’s how I envision the musical and temperamental meld of Brad Mehldau and Elliott Smith. The former is a pianist and composer, the latter a singer-songwriter; each has …