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Jazz Articles about Fred Hersch
Improvisation Versus Composition
by Robert J. Lewis
What is it that attracts music lovers to jazz (improvised music)? Is it the loose structure, or the beat or the notes and melodies we have never heard before and will never hear again, unless the performance has been recorded? Or is it the musician's uncanny ability to spontaneously translate feelings that inform the notes into the language of music? Perhaps it is the musician's audacity and courage --daring to play without a script; to make it up as they ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch: A Lifetime Of Meditation At The Piano
by Frank Housh
Fred Hersch has spent nearly seven decades mediating at the piano. In his candid memoir, Good Things Happen Slowly: A Life In And Out Of Jazz (Crown Archetype Press, 2017), Hersch described how he creates music. He wrote: I sit down, settle onto the piano stool, and see what kind of mood I'm in. Sometimes when playing with my trio I will ask them what they feel like starting with--a nice surprise for me, as ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch: The Surrounding Green
by Doug Collette
Taken together, Fred Hersch's first two albums for ECM Records can be seen as a bid for recognition as the preeminent pianist in contemporary jazz. The solo work of Silent, Listening (ECM, 2024) complements the trio work on The Surrounding Green, their individual and combined impact heightened by release on the vaunted label in successive years. As much as the former depicts Hersch's touch for nuance, the latter is a display of the equally subtle mutual empathy he ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch: The Surrounding Green
by Jack Kenny
Fred Hersch's The Surrounding Green , his third release for ECM Records, is a testament to the art of the piano trio, combining lyrical introspection with sophisticated interplay. Recorded in May 2024 at Lugano's Auditorio Stelio Molo under Manfred Eicher's meticulous production, the album features Hersch on piano, Drew Gress on double bass and Joey Baron on drums. Their decades-honed chemistry gives the album musical maturity, creating a sound that is both intimate and expansive. The album's seven ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch: The Surrounding Green
by Neil Duggan
In a world where turmoil arrives almost instantly via notifications on our devices, a Fred Hersch album feels like sanctuary--an invitation to slow down and listen deeply. The Surrounding Green, his third release for ECM, once again finds the pianist in tandem with producer Manfred Eicher, the ideal partner to bring focus to the pianist's gentle improvisational and instrumental artistry. Widely regarded as one of jazz's most distinctive and enduring voices, Hersch's creative vision has influenced the genre ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch and Donny McCaslin at Smoke Jazz Club
by Paul Reynolds
Fred Hersch with Donny McCaslin Smoke Jazz and Supper Club New York City March 14, 2025 The pairing of pianist Fred Hersch and saxophonist Donny McCaslin at Smoke Jazz & Supper Club was a dazzling demonstration of musical chemistry--a duo performance that far exceeded the sum of its parts. Both players listened closely and built solos architecturally, yet with careful economy. Their riveting duets, mostly on standards, felt almost composed, so tightly bound ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch al Teatro Golden di Palermo
by Maurizio Zerbo
Fred Hersch Teatro Golden Catania Jazz Palermo 25 febbraio 2025 Ascoltare un concerto di Fred Hersch è sempre un'esperienza emozionante, che tocca le zone più remote del cuore. Il set palermitano esemplifica la forza evocativa della sua musica, suscitando pathos in chi la ascolta. Reinterpretando alcuni capolavori del repertorio musicale afroamericano, il pianista statunitense fa del suo strumento una corda dell'anima: una voce sussurrata prima che un suono limpido, per sublimare la forza del ...
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