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Fred Hersch, piano; Dew Gress, bass; Nasheet Waits, drums
My first Fred Hersch experience goes back only to 1990 and there is this guy playing behind Judy Niemack and Lovano, and Colley and Billy Hart. Fred Hersch was socking it out then and things haven't changed. The old saw about Fred being a Bill Evans "Abklatsch" is so obviously nonsense. (Besides, herrschen means to rule in German.) This is one man who has taken the Evans thing further than the man himself may have been capable of doing.
The CD kicks in with Monk's "Bemsha Swing" and the pianist flirts with the audience as well as the tune in his intro, touching here and there on the melody until it almost finds its own way out through Fred's fingers. Of, course, when those unmistakable chords do get loose, the sense of hard-hitting swing that Monk was able to conjure is given the full treatment by Hersch who gets into his own groove with the able support of Gress and Waits. This is an astonishing rendition and I can't stop listening to it. Hersch shows his romantic streak thereafter, though his "Phantom at the Bopera" is given a loose rein. "Endless Stars" is a bit Evans-like, and it is a lovely Hersch original.
One is astonished at the man's versatile approach. "Some Other Time" is an old favorite among romantics and we were charmed out our socks by this version. One should give praise to Gress and Waits who were obliged to support a real monster piano player. They needed to keep their wits about them, and they did so splendidly. Never one to make melody recognition easy, Fred again flirts around "I'll Be Seeing You" and you know Jazz piano is in good hands. More! Give me more! Very highly recommended.
by Lawrence Brazier
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Copyright Jazz Now, March 2003 issue, all rights reserved
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