Just picked up Brad Mehldau's new album last night. Is this guy awesome or what? You've got to love any jazz pianist that covers "Paranoid Android" by Radiohead (having done "Exit Music for a Film" on an earlier release.) In addition to his great originals, he also takes on some Jobim and some Beatles on this record. Very cool stuff. His new one, "Largo" probably isn't the best place to start for first timers, but he's amazing nonetheless.
I quite like Mehldau. His earlier trio work is very good, although he catches a lot of crap for the whole Bill Evans thing. I read an interview with him one time where he seemed a bit tired of it (think "Fall/Pavement"). But it's very understandable -- with his trio he adopted a very similar vibe to the early Evans trio and has said Evans was a big influence. I'm a big Bill Evans fan* but I don't think he's a ripoff artist. It was the same with Chet Baker and Miles Davis. *....because Everybody Digs Bill Evans......
I agree, to me Mehldau is one of the few jazz performers today with anything original left to say. Most folks seem like cheeseballs or ripoffs now. Mehldau and MMW mix it up good.