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Fred Hersch Trio: Live In Europe
by Dan McClenaghan
Fred Hersch's 2009 recording, Whirl (Palmetto Records), was where pure magic first occurred in the pianist's extensive and consistently superb discography. That particular outing introduced his now long-standing trio with bassist John Hebert and drummer Eric McPherson. Alive At the Vanguard (2012), Floating (2014), and Sunday Night At The Vanguard (2016) by the group followed, all on Palmetto Records. For those who lauded Hersch's solo outing, Open Book (Palmetto Records, 2017) as his finest, most incisive and finely-focused ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch: Life, Music, and the Creative Process
by Victor L. Schermer
Since his arrival on the jazz scene in the 1970s, pianist Fred Hersch has developed from a sought after sideman to a multi-Grammy nominated jazz icon, creative force, and significant composer of songs, jazz standards, and original complete works, the latter including Leaves of Grass (Palmetto, 2005), based upon the poetry of Walt Whitman. As one indication of the high regard in which he is held, Hersch is one of very few musicians invited to do extended solo engagements at ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch's Leaves Of Grass at Jazz at Lincoln Center
by Dan Bilawsky
Fred Hersch's Leaves Of Grass The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center New York, NY September 15, 2017 Walt Whitman's Leaves Of Grass may be the ultimate contemplation on man's commonalities and singularities, underscoring what binds all of humanity and what distinguishes each of us as individuals. And so it's only fitting that Fred Hersch's celebrated musical meditation on the magisterial bard's magnum opus should not only explore said theme, but also amplify it, ...
Continue ReadingGood Things Happen Slowly: A Life In And Out Of Jazz
by Mark Corroto
Good Things Happen Slowly: A Life In And Out Of Jazz Fred Hersch 307 Pages ISBN: #9781101904343 Crown Archetype Press 2017 Disclaimer #1: Like the author, I harbor a blood pathogen (he HIV, me Leukemia) that is intent on killing me. Disclaimer #2: Being of similar age, the author's discovery of jazz as an art form very much paralleled mine. It was September 4, 2015, and I was ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch: Open Book
by Doug Collette
Slowly but surely, over the last five years, Fred Hersch has been encroaching upon Brad Mehldau's position as the premiere player on jazz piano. And while it's debatable the latter's openness to experimentation with the likes of electronicist/percussionist Mark Giuliana or nouveau bluegrass master Chris Thile renders him superior, it is the very purity of the former's work, relegated to either solo piano or an acoustic trio format, that elevates him in stature. One of 2017's best, continues that process. ...
Continue ReadingSolo Piano – Fred Hersch and Ran Blake
by C. Michael Bailey
Fred Hersch Open Book Palmetto 2017 Pianist Fred Hersch's 2015 release Solo (Palmetto) and the present Open Book recall Keith Jarrett's deeply introspective The Melody at Night, With You (ECM, 2000) with respect to the two artists having survived significant health crises. While Open Book is not as introspective as the Jarrett release, it is thoughtfully conceived and performed. Hersch takes an impressionistic approach Benny Golson's “Whisper Not" and Jobim's “Zingaro," casting them as aural ...
Continue ReadingOf Stories, Songs, and Self: Fred Hersch's Good Things Happen Slowly & Open Book
by Dan Bilawsky
Most everything in Fred Hersch's oeuvre has always miraculously existed as slow read and page-turner all at once. The many phrases, songs, and albums spun from the mind and fingers of this highly expressive pianist-composer have been something to really take time with, to be savored and appreciated for their beauty and depth of creative thought. But his performances simultaneously invite curiosity about what sits around the next bend. That seemingly paradoxical duality is just one of the many gifts ...
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