Fred Hersch Trio – Live In Europe – Palmetto Records PM2192 63:51 ****:
A top notch performing jazz trio like a bottle of fine wine
( Fred Hersch – piano; John Hébert – bass; Eric McPherson – drums)
A top notch performing jazz trio is like a bottle of fine wine. Upon opening, it offers a bouquet of distinctive bell-hued tones, and then provides a long finish of dynamic harmonies beneath the tightly channelled lead lines. Such is the Fred Hersch Trio in their latest release Live In Europe.
In a session that was recorded live at Flagey Studio 4 in Brussels, Belgium on November 24, 2017, the trio delivers a flexible and declarative recital of six Hersch originals, and four other compositions from a couple of jazz originals Thelonious Monk and Wayne Shorter. Beginning with Monk’s “We See” which comes from the composer’s 1954 recording entitled Monk, the trio embarks on a sparkling musical banter of the number evidencing their strong interplay.
The musical core of the album are the six original compositions by Hersch which are offered in consecutive tracks. While each one provides interesting improvisational opportunities, the numbers that have dedications are somewhat more charming.
The ballad “Bristol Fog” is dedicated to the late British pianist John Taylor. The connection between Hersch and Taylor as described by Hersch in the liner notes is simply “one of my favourite musicians”. According to various articles written about Taylor, he was a lyrical pianist which would very much fit in with Hersch’s approach to the instrument. This number is lyrically ruminating and Hersch’s playing is carefully rhapsodic, with a lengthy bass solo by Hébert which focusses on his slvete yet full bodied playing.
The homage to Sonny Rollins is a calypso based tune entitled “Newklypso” which leans into Rollins’ own calypso number “St. Thomas” that he recorded on the album Saxophone Colossus. Propelled along by Eric McPherson’s drumming, Hersch manages to avoid the clichéd piano stylistics of the genre, for a tawny muscular self assurance. “The Big Easy” is for New Orleans writer Tom Piazza, who was the principal writer for the HBO TV series Treme. Hersch picks up on the lush and languid bluesy style of New Orleans (The Big Easy) so that the chord development and harmonic expressions that Hersch lays out on the piano, create an evocative resonance that could only be attached to the city.
The two Wayne Shorter compositions “Miyako” and “Blue Nile” give the trio the opportunity to explore two very different compositional styles of this prodigious post-bop jazz musician/composer. The first number was written for his daughter Miyako and appeared on Shorter’s 1967 album Schizophrenia. It is a lovely thoughtful ballad wherein Hersch demonstrates his straight forward touch replete with stylish confidence. The latter tune appeared on Shorter’s 1964 release Night Dreamer with the band opening their interpretation with an extended drumming excursion from Eric McPherson. What follows from Hersch is a full frontal attack with modish and single-minded phrasing decked out by his cool-headed technical facility.
This live session closes with another Monk composition “Blue Monk” and it is a solo encore for Hersch. This improvisation is luxuriant and expansive wherein Hersch craftily summons a reading that is full of his usual untiring clarity.
TrackList:
We See; Snape Maltings; Scuttlers; Skipping; Bristol Fog; Newklypso; The Big Easy; Miyako; Back Nile; Blue Monk
—Pierre Giroux
