Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Fred Hersch & the WDR Big Band: Begin Again

5

Fred Hersch & the WDR Big Band: Begin Again

By

View read count
Fred Hersch & the WDR Big Band: Begin Again
Throughout pianist Fred Hersch's long career, he has mostly worked in trios and other small units, rarely doing much with large ensembles. That makes this session of Hersch featured with Germany's WDR Big Band a special treat. They play a program of the pianist's compositions from various parts of his career, all arranged and conducted by Vince Mendoza.

Mendoza's arrangements and the big band's excellent playing give a new depth and texture to Hersch's writing. On "Rain Waltz," his dreamy piano line is embellished by a warm, brassy orchestration reminiscent of Oliver Nelson. This piece also gives solo space to Ruud Breuls' subdued trumpet and Karolina Strassmayer's smeary alto. The entire band provides an airy classical backdrop to Hersch's romantic playing on "Begin Again," while "Song Without Words #2" is mostly a wistful feature for the soaring passion of Johan Horlen's saxophone. The eerie "Out Someplace (Blues For Mathhew Shephard)" maintains its original spooky character. Hersch drops brittle single notes into a field of sparse, wispy noises before moving into a dark, noirish melody while the horns bend nightmarish blues around him.

The livelier aspects of Hersch's originals are spotlighted on tunes like "Havana," where his piano flows alongside busy reed voicings over a prickly Latin-tinged backdrop, and the brash "Forward Motion" which surges like Chick Corea with a salsa backbeat. The last named also features Bruels and trombonist Andy Hunter crying and babbling as a duo, and Paul Heller blowing effusive tenor on his own. "The Big Easy," a laid-back take on New Orleans culture has the entire orchestra moving at a leisurely strolling pace; Andy Haderer's slow-walking trumpet and Ludwig Nuss' muted trombone are featured along with Hersch's Monkish piano stumbles. The closing piece, "The Orb," is the simplest work on display, a platform for romantic piano caresses, supported by quiet interludes of glowing reeds and horns.

Fred Hersch is rightly regarded as a great pianist but this set points out how good he is as a composer too. His work is especially powerful when matched with an arranger like Vince Mendoza who knows how to bring out the strong points in his work. This is an excellent new slant on Hersch's music.

Track Listing

Begin Again; Song Without Words #2: Ballad; Havana; Out Someplace (Blues for Matthew Shepard); Pastorale; Rain Waltz; The Big Easy; Forward Motion; The Orb (for Scott).

Personnel

Fred Hersch: composer, piano; Vince Mendoza: arranger, conductor; Wim Both: trumpet; Rob Bruynen: trumpet; Andy Haderer: trumpet; Ruud Breuls: trumpet; Johan Horlen: alto sax; Karolina Strassmayer: alto sax; Olivier Peters: tenor sax; Paul Heller: tenor sax; Jens Neufang: baritone sax; Ludwig Nuss: trombone; Andrea Andreoli: trombone; Andy Hunter: trombone; Mattis Cederberg: bass trombone, tuba; Paul Shigihara: guitar; John Goldsby: bass; Hans Dekker: drums.

Album information

Title: Begin Again | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Palmetto Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Fred Hersch Concerts


Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.