On his 2004 Nonesuch debut, Live in Tokyo, Brad Mehldau interprets material from artists as varied as George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Thelonius Monk, Nick Drake, and Radiohead with a meditative brilliance. Capturing Mehldau alone on piano, the deeply immersive affair was recorded on February 15, 2003 at the Sumida Triphony Hall, Tokyo, engineered by Yoshihito Saegusa, and mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound in New York City.

Speaking of this recording and his then new label, Mehldau said, "I'm very happy and excited about my new relationship with Nonesuch Records. I've been a great fan of so many recordings from Nonesuch over the years – Dawn Upshaw's lieder recitals, Richard Goode's Beethoven Sonata Cycle, Bill Frisell's recordings, or Steve Reich's music, just to name a few. It's a real honor to be associated with such a level of integrity. From the first time I met Bob Hurwitz and talked with him, it struck me that he is first and foremost concerned with the musical quality of the recordings he is involved with, and everything else is secondary. Many other people in the music business may preach a ‘music first' philosophy, but the team at Nonesuch is actually practicing that philosophy"

Nonesuch President Robert Hurwitz added, "I have greatly admired Brad from a distance for years; when the opportunity arose for a chance to work with him, we immediately jumped at it. It is one thing to be a great pianist, another to be an original, and yet another to be a visionary. To be all three at once is the rarest of events. We feel Brad is this rare of a musician, and we are privileged to be working with him at Nonesuch."