Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Fred Hersch: In Amsterdam: Live at the Bimhuis
Fred Hersch: In Amsterdam: Live at the Bimhuis
In Amsterdam reaches its zenith with the fourth and fifth of the eight tracks, Hersch's original ballad "At the Close of the Day and his vast-roving cover of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "O Grande Amor. The former, as its title suggests, is a reflective piece, but also exploratory, using successions of rich harmonies and pronounced contrast between the high and low register of the piano. "O Grande Amor is reminiscent of Keith Jarrett's more inspired solo excursions, passing through angst and calm, searching through shadows and sunlight, and finally arriving at a falling Latin vamp to close.
This may be a stumper of a jazz trivia question in the years to come: Who was the first pianist to have a week-long run of solo performances at the Village Vanguard? The honor belongs not to any of jazz's elder statesmen, but Fred Hersch himself, who made this bit of history the first week of March, 2006.
Hersch approached the piano with a long list of possible tunes, from which he selected the set's varied program. It included his "atmospheric medley of Russ Freeman's "The Wind into Alec Wilder's "Moon and Sand, a bouncy jaunt through Billy Strayhorn's "U.M.M.G. (Upper Manhattan Medical Group) and Joni Mitchell's "My Old Man, on which he kept the melody intact over dissonant jazz harmonies below and seemed to have the most fun of the set. On "I'll Be Seeing You, Hersch made a case for himself as one of the premier ballad players today, with light, sprinkled right-hand lines, dark pillows of left-hand chords, and dynamics shifting at an impulse.
Track Listing
A Lark; The Nearness of You; Evidence; At the Close of the Day; O Grande Amor; The Peacocks; Don't Blame Me; Valentine.
Personnel
Fred Hersch
pianoFred Hersch: piano.
Album information
Title: In Amsterdam: Live at the Bimhuis | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: Palmetto Records
< Previous
Holding the Center
Next >
Goodbye Svengali