Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Fred Hersch Trio: Live In Europe
Fred Hersch Trio: Live In Europe
ByFor those who lauded Hersch's solo outing, Open Book (Palmetto Records, 2017) as his finest, most incisive and finely-focused outing, the pianist offers up Live In Europe, featuring his Hebert/McPherson team, to garner votes for that "Hersch's Best" slot.
Performed at Flagey Studio 4, in Brussels's former National Institute for Radio Broadcasting, Hersch was initially unaware that the setwhich he regarded as one of his best trio performances everhad been recorded. Upon finding out that it had beenand upon hearing the tape and having his belief in its extraordinary quality confirmedhe decided to release the music.
Spinning through Hersch's previous outings with this nine years and running trio says that they bring the "A" game every time. On Live In Europe it's an "A+" game. The players are as flexibly synchronized and adept at presenting their three-way improvisational and emotional expressionism as they could be, on a set that begins with a jittery take on Thelonious Monk's "We See." The group follows with six Hersch originals, including tributes to British pianist John Taylor and a calypso-esque nod to saxophone legend Sonny Rollins, before slipping into the Herbie Hancock songbook with the achingly beautiful "Miyako," that gives way to an effervescent take on a second Shorter tune, "Black Nile." It's a set where Hersch sounds freer, more open to possibilities, employing the same exploratory approach he presented on the epic "Though The Forest" on his Open Book outing.
And the sound must be addressed. It doesn't get any bettera big plus, especially on piano trio outings. The piano is crisp, like a winter sunrise. Every nuance of McPherson's intricate and energetic drumming has crystal clarity, and Hebert's empathic and emphatic bass lines come through with a clean-cut lucidity.
The show wraps it up with a solo encore of "Blue Monk," a sober and contemplative return to Monk-land, a place to which Hersch often travels.
Track Listing
Wee See; Snape Maltings; Scuttlers; Skipping; Bristol Fog; Newklypso; The Big Easy; Miyako; Black Nile; Blue Monk.
Personnel
Fred Hersch
pianoFred Hersch: piano; John Hebert: bass; Eric McPherson: drums.
Album information
Title: Live In Europe | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Palmetto Records
< Previous
Jazzahead! 2018
Next >
Wonder Trail
Comments
Tags
Fred Hersch Trio
CD/LP/Track Review
Dan McClenaghan
Braithwaite & Katz Communications
Live in Europe
Palmetto Records
Fred Hersch
John Taylor
Sonny Rollins
Herbie Hancock