Fred Hersch may be the best post-Bill Evans jazz pianist performing. He has effectively extended Evans’ piano language to jazz areas Evans could never reach (Thelonious Monk, for example). Hersch is a master of the jazz ballad in the same way the late Gene Harris was the master of the blues. He is also an accomplished thematic composer as illustrated in his settings for Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (Palmetto, 2005).
Like all jazz, Hersch’s best playing is live as testified by, In Amsterdam: Live at the Bimhuis (Palmetto, 2005) and Live at the Village Vanguard (Palmetto, 2003). His playing and arrangement style is characterized by precision and acute attention to tonal detail. While Fred Hersch is certainly a musical impressionist, his impressionism is digital.
Hersch has now left the field of improvisation for what he terms “Concert Music,” that is, “modern classical music.” Concert Music 2001-2006 contains the first fully notated music composed by Hersch. While the piano is central to all of the compositions herein, Hersch demonstrates a command of multiple musical styles.
Hersch’s “Three Character Studies” are moody romantic pieces that recall Liszt’s transcription of Schubertlieder – heavy left hand filigreed with ornate right hand triplets. “24 Variations on a Bach Chorale” (after “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden” from St. Matthew’s Passion) sounds roundly American in the same way that Virgil Thompson and Aaron Copland do in their respective treatments of familiar tunes.
The Bach variations show Hersch’s well anointed tonal horizon as he modulates harmonically, melodically, and in tempi. All of the variations remain distinctly recognizable. “Lyric Pieces for Trio” displays Hersch’s ability to compose foe ensembles, whetting the listener’s appetite for more elaborate Hersch compositions for larger ensembles. Hersh’s most intense Americana is reserved for his “Saloon Songs” which update the ragtime paradigm right into the 21st Century.
Track Listing:
Three Character Studies: No. 1. Nocturne for Left Hand Alone (for Sophia)
Natasha Paremski; No. 2. Little Spinning Song (for Penny)
Natasha Paremski; No. 3. Chorinho; (Study in Thirds and Sixths) (for Spike) Natasha Paremski; 24 Variations on a Bach Chorale
Blair McMillen; Lyric Piece - Gramercy Trio; Tango Bittersweet
Dorothy Lawson; Saloon Songs: No. 1. Four-Part Slow Drag
Blair McMillen; No. 2. The "Last Call" Waltz
Blair McMillen; No. 3. The Bowery Rag - Blair McMillen.
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