The Fred Hersch trio had a fine run at Jazz Standard last week, and as a lovely coda on Sunday evening Mr. Hersch appeared alone at the piano. His playing was relaxed and generous, and the selections were wonderfully eclectic; the composers ranged from Fats Waller to Joni Mitchell, as well as Mr. Hersch himself.
He began with something truly unique, the artful threading of the traditional folk song “Black Is The Color of My True Love’s Hair” together with the haunting love theme from the movie Spartacus, composed by Alex North. It was arresting, melancholy and delightful, and in Hersch’s hands they complemented each other so well that the uninitiated would have taken the two pieces, separated in time by decades, as one poetic lamentation. It ended very, very slowly, as if it hated to go away. It was very well received by the crowd at The Jazz Standard, and served as the perfect introduction to what Mr. Hersch had planned for the evening.
A jaunty and playful composition by Mr. Hersch came next, called “Dream of Monk”. Mr. Hersch is an especial admirer of the work of Thelonious Monk, and this tribute strongly displayed his enthusiasm for the work of the late iconoclast. “Dreams of Monk” was rhythmically fun, and surprisingly, somewhat reminiscent of the song “Cruella De Vil”. It was a fun contrast to the opening piece, and it heralded how different each selection of Mr. Hersch’s was to be from the one that preceded it.
“Duet for the Right Hand”, a selection from Hersch’s longer composition Songs Without Words, was boldly different as well, sounding at times more like a modernist classical piece than a jazz tune. This is a unique characteristic of Mr. Hersch’s, being a classical pianist as well he seems not to be overly interested in separating the two genres. Each piece he plays rolls out of his hands onto the keyboard with its own style and musical personality that often resists easy categorization. His composition “At the Close of the Day”, inspired by a poem by Walt Whitman, typifies this; the piece is not showy, but rather graceful, penetrating, deeply reflective and in its quiet joyfulness, occasionally reminiscent of the music of Aaron Copeland.
Moving in a different direction once again, a little known 1931 Fats Waller piece called “Crazy ‘Bout My Baby” came next, and its warm glow and comfortably bluesy rhythms surely satisfied the most traditional of jazz fans in the house.
Every piece Mr. Hersch played was different than what came before, whether it was the Joni Mitchell piece “My Old Man” or the fascinating, technically virtuosic piece “Doce De Coco”, which was dazzling, with each hand playing very different rhythms. It was quite surprising when the piece, so melodic and so sprightly, ended so quietly that I could barely hear the final notes. And “Round Midnight", the Thelonious Monk classic, was played in a way that was different from every other version I’ve heard. The rhythms were distinctive, with Mr. Hersch speeding up the tempo or slowing it down into mysterious explorations that made the piece nearly unrecognizable at times, almost veering into Ligeti territory. Other times he played it with remarkable fidelity and a gentle confidence that painted pictures of rain-slicked city streets being shrouded by the darkness of The Witching Hour.
Mr. Hersch concluded the evening with a magical and very romantic performance of the Billy Strayhorn tune “Lotus Blossom". It was the perfect farewell, wistful and filled with longing, and afterwards Mr. Hersch simply stood up, bowed, and quickly departed without a word.
For more information on upcoming shows at the Jazz Standard, visit https://www.jazzstandard.com/
