Customer Reviews

Whirl

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

The new CD of the Fred Hersch Trio is characterized by an enormous quantity and quality of ideas in so far as rhythm, melody and harmony are concerned. The whole CD appears fresh und innovative, the match between Fred Hersch (p), John Hébert(b) and Eric Mcpherson (dr) is perfect. Knowing almost all of the CD's of pianist and composer Fred Hersch, one can state even a further improvement of intensity and richness of harmony - which normally could not be imagined. So one could say, this CD represents a kind of Fred Hersch 2.0. This can only be admired. The reason for this are the refreshing interpretation of well-known songs as well as the - again - gorgeous own compositions of Fred Hersch. Especially the songs "snow is falling" (where he cites his composition "at the close of the day"), "blue midnight", "whirl" and "sad poet" can be pointet out. Concerning the at last mentioned composition of Fred Hersch, there is a very energetic and characteristic part at the end of the song, that must be described as musicial art at its best. Really genious!

Think of Bill Evans if he was playing today and innovating new ideas and moving you beyond your normal consciousness to your highest loving self. Fred Hersch is this guy in Whirl CD. Happy you will be in jogging or playing to his tilting and lilting improvizations with a wonderful backup of bass and traps.

I was pleasantly surprised, not really hearing his name before in music circles.

This is a lovely new album from Fred Hersch and his Trio. The music can be very relaxed or intense. They are all great players and Fred should be added to your list of sensitive jazz musicians.

The performance, as well as the quality of the recording were quite good, matter of fact, better than expected.

Hersch, Fred. Whirl. Palmetto Records. 2010
Fred Hersch, p; John Hébert, b; Eric Mcpherson, dr

There seems to have emerged a broad synthesis or approach in modern jazz piano playing, not the avant garde edge playing of, say, Fred Van Hove or Marilyn Crispell, but mainstream modern, that is deeply rewarding to the listener. Pianists as diverse as Keith Jarrett and Paul Bley, Kenny Baron or Kenny Werner or Brad Mehldau improvise in this context with great fluency and inventiveness, and equally important, with great musicality. The elements of the synthesis are these: a foundation in bop harmonies with the incorporation of more modern harmonic elements (a touch of impressionism here, of modalism there), a pianistic approach to their instrument, and interplay with drums and bass that is reminiscent of but doesn't try to duplicate the shifting balance of harmonic and rhythmic responsibilities in the classic Bill Evans trio with Scott La Faro and Paul Motian.

The difference is apparent upon comparison. Listen, for instance, to the two great last albums of John Lewis, Evolution and Evolution II (1999, 2001). Lewis was a master of subtly placed chords but his soloing, and much of his ensemble playing, is straight out bop style -single note and propulsive, though tempered in Lewis's case by his profound debt to Count Basie, as seen in the sparseness of Lewis's playing and his subtle placement of rhythmic accents across the pieces he plays.

Two recent albums show the creative strength of the new post-bop but still basically bop piano synthesis.

Fred Hersch is a talented and imaginative pianist who shines in almost every context. His recent album, Whirl, on which he is joined by talented drummer Eric McPherson and bassist John Hebert, shows his strengths to advantage. The program is intelligent and varied. There are two standards, "You're My Everything," done between mid tempo and up, with killer drumming, and "When Your Lover Has Gone," done slow and lush. There is a bolero written by Hersch, "Mandevilla." The trio plays it like a traditional bolero -but still recognizably jazz--all the way through. I especially recommend a boppish single note piece entitled "Mrs. Parker of KC." It was written by Hersch's teacher, the wonderfully talented and uncategorizable pianist-composer-teacher, Jaki Byard. This tune, and another entitled "Skipping," are rhythmically the most interesting in the album. The title song, "Whirl," Hersch dedicates to the great prima ballerina of the New York City Ballet, Suzanne Farrell. It is another of Hersch's trademark swirling melodies, with the drums boiling up and receding and then coming back in again like the waves in the ocean.

All in all, this is a highly satisfactory album which validates Hersch's high reputation in modern jazz circles.



Wasilewski, Marcin. Faithful. ECM. 2011
Marcin Wasilewski, p; Slawomir Kurkiewicz, b; Michal Miskiewicz, dr.

This is my second album by the Wasilewski trio (he's issued three) and it is fully as good as the first, which is to say, superb. The trio members, who have played together since the very early 2000s when they backed their fellow Pole, trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, are almost empathic in the way they pick up on each other's music cues and play them back or counter them to accent the group sound. This is a very exciting group, as well as a musically sophisticated one.

There is not one bad cut in this fine album but some stand out: the propulsive "Night Train to You," the trio's take on the seldom played standard, "The Ballad of the Sad Young Men," the pensive "Oz Guiros" and "Woke Up in the Desert." I like especially their take on Paul Bley's boppish "Big Foot."

Wasilewski and Hersch don't sound at all alike but they sound like they've come through the same school in some respects. There is the expanded use of the keyboard, and a greater and more varied use and placement of chords -in Hersch's case, whole solo stretches done chordally rather than in single note streams. In each group, the musicians listen to each other more intensely. The bass has been left off the leash of four beats to a bar thumping out chord bases, and the drums do more than keep the time. There seems in both cases, especially in Hersch's case, a greater willingness to draw on music other than jazz.

Enough! Faithful is just an exceptional album. But it and see if you don't agree.

This is exceptional piano jazz. If you like piano trios or have enjoyed Hersch's earlier work, this is highly recommended. I've heard a lot of Fred Hersch's records, and this is definitely one of the best. It stands up to repeated listening and keeps sounding better.

This is very special music from a gifted and delightful composer/pianist. We are blessed and elevated when we/I hear Fred perform. He came back from the brink with great spare enlightened music. Copunt your blessings listeners.