Fred Hersch: Songs From Home

  Safe and temporarily alone in August of this hideous pandemic year, pianist Fred Hersch played and recorded whatever songs seemed right. Eleven have been selected for Songs From Home, a radiantly beautiful recital that tugs at the heart with its casual elegance and lyricism. The repertoire is quite broad. First up is a stunning rendition of  Wouldn’t It Be Loverly, the Lerner and Loewe song from My Fair Lady. That’s followed by an exploration of Jimmy Webb’s Wichita Lineman. Joni Mitchell’s All I Want takes a few surprising rhythmic twists and turns over seven minutes. There are songs by Kenny Wheeler (a pensive look at Consolation (A Folk Song)), Duke Ellington (a magnificent version of the ever-lovely Solitude), and Cole Porter (a jaunty Get Out of Town), and more, including new looks at two Hersch originals before the concluding playful stride piano adaptation of the Beatle’s classic When I’m Sixty-Four. That’s a song with special significance to Hersch, who attained that age in October 2019. There’s something to said in favor of solo piano performances that are recorded at home, on a preferred instrument and in a familiar listening environment. Earl Hines recorded At Home in the fall of 1969 for Delmark Records is the first one that comes to mind. Keith Jarrett’s The Melody at Night, with You (ECM), made in his home studio in 1998, is another. That puts Hersch in some fine company indeed, where this modern master surely belongs. Highest recommendation. 

Palmetto PM2197; Fred Hersch (p); somewhere in Pennsylvania, August 2020; Wouldn’t It Be Loverly/ Wichita Lineman/ After You’ve Gone/ All I Want/ Get Out of Town/ Medley: West Virginia Rose, The Water is Wide/ Sarabande/ Consolation (A Folk Song)/ Solitude/ When I’m Sixty-four; 57:18. www.palmetto-records.com

Fred Hersch Trio ‘97: @ The Village Vanguard

Bassist Drew Gress and drummer Tom Rainey first recorded with pianist Fred Hersch on a 1992 Chesky album called Dancing In The Dark. It took more than a few years before the trio was invited to play at the Village Vanguard. Now, with the much-belated release of the Fred Hersch Trio ‘97 @ The Village Vanguard, listeners have a chance to hear the beautiful music that this superb ensemble could conjure up. Hersch tells us in a brief liner note that this disc “documents a huge moment in my life as a jazz musician..” The pianist had performed at the club numerous times as a sideman for the likes of Joe Henderson, Art Farmer, and Lee Konitz, but this was his debut as a leader. The three Friday night sets were recorded without a potential release in mind. But after running across the reference CDs in his archives and revisiting the music, Hersch has compiled the best performances for this Palmetto disc. Five songs from the Great American Song Book are joined by two Hersch originals (Evanessence and Swamp Thang) and one by bassist Gress (Andrew John) for the nearly hour-long program. The trio had formed in 1991 and by this point, their intimate rapport was as natural as breathing. Trio ‘97 @ The Village Vanguard is endlessly appealing, and easily recommended.
Palmetto PM 2193; Fred Hersch (p) Drew Gress (b) Tom Rainey (d); NYC, July 18, 1997; Easy to Love/ My Funny Valentine/ Three Little Words/ Evanessence/ Andrew John/ I Wish I Knew/ Swamp Thang/ You Don’t Know What Love Is; 58:19. www.palmetto-records.com

Fred Hersch Trio: Live In Europe

There’s a special sort of magic that manifests itself whenever the Fred Hersch Trio settles in to play a set. Their latest apparition, Live In Europe, documents the penultimate performance of their fall 2017 tour, in Brussels, where according to Hersch, “the acoustics were perfect, the piano was outstanding” and everything came together just right. The band didn’t know that a recording was being made, eliminating that source of possible nervous tension. Bassist John Hébert and drummer Eric McPherson have been working with Hersch since 2009 and the trio’s established rapport makes listening to them a deeply satisfying experience. This is the unit’s sixth CD, and the third to present the group in a live setting. The program is an array of Hersch originals, old and new, plus two tunes apiece from Wayne Shorter (Miyako and Black Nile) and Thelonious Monk (the opening We See and the solo piano encore dissection of Blue Monk). Favorites include Newklypso, a dedication to the inimitable Sonny Rollins, and the occasion for a masterfully constructed drum solo by McPherson; The Big Easy, dedicated to author Tom Piazza, a down-tempo New Orleans-styled blues featuring an artfully architectural piano solo; and the sheer energy of their version of Black Nile, first heard on Shorter’s Night Dreamer Lp for Blue Note. Hersch, a pianist of myriad influences, sounds a little like McCoy Tyner as he burns through this piece. Sure enough, Tyner was on the original 1964 recording. While listening to the trio’s live discs, it’s always seemed to me that what we’re hearing was actually performed in the same sequence. Illusion or not, it reveals, in a carefully paced program, the range of feelings, tempos and instrumental routines that makes it such a delight to spend an hour or more with Hersch and friends. Heartily recommended.
Palmetto PM-2192; Fred Hersch (p) John Hébert (b) Eric McPherson (d); Brussels, Belgium, November 24, 2017; We See/ Snape Maltings/ Scuttlers/ Skipping/ Bristol Fog/ Newklypso/ The Big Easy/ Miyako/ Black Nile/ Blue Monk; 64:01. www.palmetto-records.com