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Jazz Articles about Fred Hersch
Nadje Noordhuis: Full Circle
by Chris May
In terms of an honest assessment of an artist's qualities, press releases are rarely worth the paper they are no longer printed on. An exception is the release accompanying Australian-born, New York-based trumpeter and composer Nadje Noordhuis' exquisitely lyrical Full Circle. It is an exception partly because it is written by Elan Mehler, the artistic director of audiophile label Newvelle Records and a pianist who first blew the mind of this reviewer with his quietly sensational sophomore album, The After ...
Continue ReadingEnrico Rava & Fred Hersch: The Song Is You
by Chris May
Flashbacks pop up immediately on registering the instrumentation (flugelhorn and piano) and material (jazz standards and Great American Songbook ballads) on Enrico Rava and Fred Hersch's The Song Is You. Among them, Chet Baker and Paul Bley's Diane (Steeplechase, 1985) and Baker and Enrico Pieranunzi's The Heart Of The Ballad (Philology, 1988). The Baker association is affirmed by The Song Is You's opening track, Antonio Carlos Jobim's “Retrato em Branco e Preto." Rava's intimate, caressing tone and ...
Continue ReadingJohn Hébert: Sounds Of Love
by Mark Corroto
In sport, they talk about 'horses for courses,' to describe a parcour suited for particular athletes. That same language can be used to decide an ensemble's lineup for a particular category of music. Bassist and bandleader John Hébert made careful choices to create the quintet to perform music in the spirit of Charles Mingus. In the early 1960s, Mingus toured with saxophonist Eric Dolphy, trumpeter Johnny Coles, pianist Jaki Byard, and drummer Dannie Richmond. For Hébert's touring ensemble from 2011 ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch: Breath By Breath
by John Chacona
Why is Fred Hersch not sufficiently mentioned among the great jazz pianists? It could be a generational thing. At 66, Hersch is an eminent tweener, too old to qualify as the Hot New Thing and too young to be an Elder Statesman. He's in good company there with fellow sexagenarians Myra Melford, Satoko Fujii, Uri Caine, Jean-Michel Pilc and Matthew Shipp. It's true that Hersch's contemporaries Geri Allen, Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Kirkland have entered the pantheon (and Frank Kimbrough ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch: Breath By Breath
by Pierre Giroux
The intellectual and musical curiosity that inspires the work of pianist Fred Hersch is broad and deep. Validation of this is in his current release Breath By Breath which is informed by his early piano education and listening to string quartets, supported more recently by his advocacy of meditation as a way manage external factors beyond one's control. In the liner notes, Hersch encourages listeners to take the time to attend the eight-movement “Sati Suite" in ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch and Hiromi: Great Minds
by Doug Collette
Contemplating the thought that Fred Hersch and Hiromi discussed the concept for these records in advance is little more fascinating than pondering how they came up with the idea independently of each other. While both artists reside within the general scope of jazz, each travels markedly different paths around the terrain: Hersch is the more traditional composer/improviser, his classical leanings in marked contrast to the pop-cum-fusion tendencies of Hiromi. Within the specific context of these companion pieces, however, it's the ...
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