Jazz Articles about Fred Hersch

About Fred Hersch

Album Review

«Spero che questa selezione di canzoni, a me molto care, possano portare un po' di calore alle vostre giornate e che voi tutti possiate star bene e camminare in pace». Con queste parole Fred Hersch conclude la presentazione di copertina del suo ultimo album, registrato nel silenzio della seconda casa che possiede tra i boschi della Pennsylvania. In una settimana d'agosto 2020—in piena pandemia da Covid—il pianista ha sentito il bisogno di isolarsi e trovare conforto in ...

Album Review

Roseanna Vitro: Listen Here

Read "Listen Here" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
January 26, 2021

Roseanna Vitro is a singer's singer in the same way as Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae. She is a studied practitioner of the jazz vocal arts, an interpreter, performer, educator. Her repertoire, taste, and vocal chops are beyond compare. Vitro's ability has evolved horizontally and vertically over 14 recordings and nearly 40 years. The singer's most recent release, Tell Me The Truth (Skyline, 2018), was thematically devoted to the rich music of the American South where Vitro capably migrates from ...

Album Review

Fred Hersch: Songs From Home

Read "Songs From Home" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer

by Victor L. Schermer
November 23, 2020

As Fred Hersch is sometimes wont to do, this album is built around a story, some of which is intended, and some of which may be embedded in the pianist's unconscious and manifested in his imagination and the way that he plays. The conscious part is simple, and basically stated in the liner notes. Hersch leaves the pandemic conditions around his loft in Manhattan and is in semi-isolation in his country home in northeastern Pennsylvania. He and his partner built ...

Album Review

Fred Hersch: Songs From Home

Read "Songs From Home" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
November 6, 2020

In order for solo piano playing to be maintained at a high standard, the artist must exhibit a prolific imagination, a wealth of conviction and self-assurance, note-striking precision and a firm sense of swing. Throughout his career, Fred Hersch has exhibited these qualities. Since performers (be they musicians, dancers or actors) are generally defined by their craft (otherwise they are just regular folks like the rest of us) even in these uncertain times, they continue to ...

Album Review

Brian Landrus: For Now

by Doug Hall
May 30, 2020

Low-register reed specialist and multi-instrumentalist and composer Brian Landrus confronted a difficult period in his life and used adversity to inspire a passionate declaration in song on his 2020 release For Now (BlueLand Records). He took advice from the late valve-trombonist, composer and educator Bob Brookmeyer, “book a recording session before you have the music composed—then you have a goal." Alternating between the baritone saxophone and the bass clarinet, Landrus creates wonderful lower-range tones and compositions with instruments ...

Album Review

Brian Landrus: For Now

by Jack Bowers
May 20, 2020

On For Now, his tenth album as leader, multi-reed specialist Brian Landrus gives voice to the many faces of romance, using as his means of expression a talented core quintet, amplified on several themes by a four-member string section, with arrangements by the notable opera composer Robert Aldridge. While Landrus plays four instruments including flute and alto flute, he sticks for the most part to baritone sax and bass clarinet, soloing on one or the other on almost every one ...

Multiple Reviews

3x3: Piano Trios: January 2020

by Geno Thackara
January 11, 2020

Geir Åge Johnsen/Fredrik Sahlander/Bernt Moen 1+1=3 Losen Records 2019 What exactly does this title signify? It isn't quite clear, seeing as there are three players here and each counts as a positive one in any equation. Small mystery and all, though, it's a fun session brimming with good humor and smarts. The players here offer a mix of fresh compositions and old-school jazz staples, all offered with the same melodic charm and sharp dose of ...