Fred Hersch has never been a person to let something like a pandemic get in the way of progress. During lockdown he gave daily livestreams on Facebook to, so to speak, keep his hand(s) in but now he's back in the studio with what may well be his most ambitious project to date - the merging of his trio with the Crosby Street String Quartet.
Breath By Breath draws inspiration from the pianist's practice of mindfulness meditation that formed the basis for his Sati Suite - an extended work that unfolds over eight movements.
Not the easiest piece to pigeonhole. Jazzical? Clazzical? How about simply Music? Hersch's delicate improvisations are undeniably at the jazz end of the spectrum whereas his writing for the string quartet is diametrically opposite. However, the meeting twixt the two factions is a perfect blend that will offend neither camp and is probably the most successful fusion to date although I can't lay claim to have heard them all. However, perhaps the composer's greatest achievement is that it comes across as a natural meeting of the two genres without a hint of the pretentiousness that so often mars such experiments.
In addition to The Sati Suite there's a bonus track - Pastorale - which is sub-titled as a Homage to Robert Schumann. It's quite beautiful. Lance
Begin Again; Awakened Heart; Breath By Breath; Monkey Mind; Rising Falling; Mara; Know That You Are; Worldly Winds; Pastorale.
Available From Jan. 7 on Palmetto Records.
No comments :
Post a Comment