Author: Bryan Farina
Click here to read Gregor Dotzauer’s review on Fred Hersch in the Pierre Boulez Saal for Der Tagesspiegel
Click here to read Fred Hersch’s interview with American Jewish World by Mordecai Specktor
A review of the pianist’s album with the German ensemble and conductor Vince Mendoza
Click here to read the review by Bill Meredith for JazzTimes
The highly esteemed pianist Fred Hersch took his current trio – featuring bassist John Hébert and drummer Eric McPherson – to the mythical The Village Vanguard for a one-week residency that served to celebrate a decade playing together.
Fred Hersch, who has influenced many a younger player, is on the roster for the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest.
It had just rained for a while and so his song ‘Rain waltz’ was very suitable for the occasion, Fred Hersch thought. We especially liked the piece because it made Hersch dance softly over his piano as only he can: subtle and elegant, and yet amazingly virtuoso. Because even though Hersch was accompanied by a big band this time – the WDR Big Band is world class – everything revolves around his lyrical piano playing. Vince Mendoza put Hersch’s compositions in refined arrangements, such as ‘The big easy’, an ode to New Orleans. On a rare occasion the music sounded dark: in ‘Out someplace’, dedicated to Matthew Shepard, who was murdered because of his sexual orientation. Hersch (a homosexual and HIV patient for many years) cares about such hate crimes. But the New Yorker got the most applause when he played a piece by Monk all by himself. The bisong was also a piano solo: ‘Valentine’, perhaps his most beautiful composition.
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This week’s news of the headline acts for Guinness Cork Jazz Festival has prompted concern that the event is once more moving away from its roots just a year after promising a renaissance.
