Belgian Review on Fred Hersch
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.
