Mick Goodrick & Fred Hersch: Feebles, Fables And Ferns

Feebles, Fables and Ferns captures a rare duo session between guitarist Mick Goodrick and pianist Fred Hersch. Recorded in August 1988 at Hersch's studio in New York, the album provides an intimate display of the superbly matched improvisational skills of two musicians in full flight.

During his career, Goodrick perfected the art of avoiding the spotlight, even when collaborating with artists such as John Surman, Charlie Haden and Gary Burton. He was not prolific as a composer or recording artist, preferring to work behind the scenes, often in educational roles. Yet his innovative approach to improvisation proved influential, with many prominent musicians, among them Julian Lage and Pat Metheny, acknowledging his impact.

For over three decades, Hersch's work as a pianist, composer and collaborator has resulted in over 60 albums, either as a leader or co-leader, along with multiple Grammy nominations and a host of awards. He is internationally recognized as one of jazz's most distinctive voices.

The album opens with the title track. This was composed by Goodrick and was originally recorded on his debut album In Passing (ECM, 1979). The guitar opens the track, Hersch joins, and soon the instruments are intertwined, spinning and folding solo lines around, each leaving spaces for the other to explore as they move through an array of moods.

Hersch's composition "Heartsong" is the central track. The piece has previously been featured in trio format on his 1990 album Heartsongs (Sunnyside) and on his 2001 solo album Songs Without Words (Nonesuch Records). In the duo's hands, the piece becomes a harmonic delight, the instruments exchanging the melody to captivating effect.

The whole album is an exercise in listening and responding. This reaches its height on the spontaneous improvisations of "Five Excursions." As Hersch notes, "The highlight to me is just the level of ensemble playing. There was a lot of profound listening going on between the both of us."

Alongside the originals are four covers. "Falling Grace" and "Amazing" are both Steve Swallow compositions, with the latter leading in with Goodrick's "Away 10." Its beautiful unfolding melody and improvised passages form another highlight. Johnny Green and Edward Heyman's "Out Of Nowhere" sees melodic fragments eventually merge and Goodrick's solo shimmers through Mal Waldron's "Soul Eyes."

These two musicians are so well matched that they conjure something close to magic in this intimate studio session. They interweave their lines, expanding and contracting to build delicate miniatures, tender melodic exchanges and romantic drifts. But there is energy here too, making this pure musical communication of the highest order.