Jazz From Lincoln Center - Fred Hersch, Solo Piano

Jazz From Lincoln Center

Fred Hersch: Solo Piano

by Neil Tesser

1) Music: "Satin Doll" (Hersch, JALC, 11/20)

2) Vox: Fred Hersch (INT 319)

". . . When you're playing solo, you have to keep surprising yourself. // There's that emotional energy that you get when you're playing something and discovering it for the first time that doesn't happen when you've already figured it out. That's why I prefer Earl Hines to Art Tatum, cause he's hangin' it right out there. // He takes you somewhere - and he screws up. He paints himself into a corner, and then, he paints himself - and that's what I like, That's the fun part."

3) Bradley:

PIANIST FRED HERSCH'S RECENT CAREER HAS BEEN A SURPRISE, EVEN TO HIM. A PRODIGY IN GRADE SCHOOL, NOW A JAZZ VETERAN AT 44, HE HAS GAINED INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM ONLY IN THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, WITH A SERIES OF SOLO-PIANO ALBUMS AND COLLABORATIONS.

LUSTROUS TEXTURE AND A CLASSICAL INFLUENCE SHOW UP IN EVERY DETAIL OF HIS PIANO PLAYING - FROM THE WEIGHT HE GIVES TO THE INNER NOTES OF A CHORD TO THE SWEEPING FORM HE IMPARTS TO HIS IMPROVISATIONS.

4) Bradley: (cont)

WE'LL HEAR FRED HERSCH PLAY WORKS BY ELLINGTON, STRAYHORN, AND HERSCH ON THIS EDITION OF JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I'M ED BRADLEY.

fade music

4a) Bradley:

WHILE ELLINGTON AND STRAYHORN HAD A SEAMLESS COLLABORATION THROUGHOUT THEIR CAREERS, EACH COMPOSER'S WORK IS STILL INDIVIDUALLY RECOGNIZABLE. FRED HERSCH CONNECTS MORE PERSONALLY TO THE MUSIC OF STRAYHORN. HERSCH FEATURED THIS TUNE ON "PASSION FLOWER," HIS WIDELY-ACCLAIMED 1996 ALBUM OF BILLY STRAYHORN COMPOSITIONS.

FROM THE STANLEY KAPLAN PENTHOUSE, HERE'S "U.M.M.G,"

5) Music: "U.M.M.G." (Hersch, JALC, 11/18) 6:50

6) Bradley:

FRED HERSCH, SOLO PIANO - AT LINCOLN CENTER'S STANLEY KAPLAN PENTHOUSE. THAT WAS "U.M.M.G." - THE UPPER MANHATTAN MEDICAL GROUP, A COMPOSITION FROM BILLY STRAYHORN.

7) Music: "Passion Flower" (from Centennial Edition, disc 12)

8) Vox: Fred Hersch (INT 319)

"Strayhorn occupies a very unique place in jazz, because not only was he a great jazz composer // but also he wrote great words, and he wrote real great songs. // He and I had a lot in common - not just our sexual orientation, but the fact that he was very interested in and influenced by classical music and music theater. So I'm more drawn to Strayhorn."

9) Bradley:

FRED HERSCH IS ONE OF THE FEW OPENLY GAY MUSICIANS IN JAZZ. BUT HIS AFFINITY FOR STRAYHORN'S MUSIC GOES BEYOND SEXUAL IDENTITY. HERSCH'S STUDENT BRUCE BARTH UNDERSTANDS THE KINSHIP BETWEEN HIS MENTOR AND STRAYHORN .

10) Vox: Bruce Barth (INT 320)

"A couple of the qualities that come to mind are the lyricism - Fred's a very lyrical player, a very melodic player, and that's of course one of the main qualities of Strayhorn's music // and also the incredible harmonic richness and complexity. // And I think of Fred, one of his strengths is that very rich harmonic language. // Fred's the kind of player - it's not that he'll just come up with a great reharmonization of a tune, but he'll do it spontaneously - and he'll do it five different ways..."

11) Bradley:

WE'LL HEAR IT ALL AS FRED HERSCH IMPROVISES A SOLO PIANO FANTASY. ORIGINALLY RECORDED IN 1941 BY AN ELLINGTON SMALL GROUP LED BY JOHNNY HODGES, THIS IS "PASSION FLOWER."

12) Music: "Passion Flower" (Hersch, JALC, 11/18) 7:28

13) Bradley:

BILLY STRAYHORN'S LANGUID CLASSIC, "PASSION FLOWER," PERFORMED BY FRED HERSCH AT THE STANLEY KAPLAN PENTHOUSE. THIS IS JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER; I'M ED BRADLEY.

14) Music: (background) "Speak Low" (Hersch, JALC, 11/20)

15) Bradley:

HERSCH HAS BECOME FAMOUS IN THE JAZZ WORLD FOR HIS REFRESHING TREATMENTS OF OTHER COMPOSERS' SONGS. THESE IMPROVISED ARRANGEMENTS HAVE A COMPLEXITY AND A FULLY REALIZED ARC THAT SUGGEST HE WROTE THEM OUT FAR IN ADVANCE. YET THAT'S HARDLY THE CASE:

16) Vox: Fred Hersch (INT 319)

"Over the years I've evolved certain approaches to tunes that are at least a starting point, but the details are always different. I haven't worked out the introduction; I haven't worked out an ostinato, a pattern. I have a general idea. But I just make sound, and put it in a rhythm, and just try to go."

17) Bradley:

PIANIST BRUCE BARTH:

18) Vox: Bruce Barth (INT 320)

". . . the thing about Fred that I also find inspiring is, he doesn't come to the gig or to the particular tune with a game plan. Part of the way he teaches, and his own approach to music, is basically to prepare yourself to go out on a limb and to play in the moment."

19) Bradley:

ON THIS NEXT TUNE, FRED HERSCH GOES SO FAR OUT ON THAT LIMB THAT YOU MIGHT NOT RECOGNIZE IT. HE BEGINS WITH A LONG IMPROVISATION WHICH ULTIMATELY CONCLUDES WITH THE MELODY - ON THELONIOUS MONK'S "EVIDENCE."

20) Music: "Evidence" (Hersch, JALC, 11/18) 4:45

21) Bradley:

FRED HERSCH AT LINCOLN CENTER, WITH "EVIDENCE."

THELONIOUS MONK WROTE THAT TUNE FOR HIS HARD-SWINGING QUARTET. BUT SITTING ALONE AT THE PIANO, HERSCH TOUCHES ON ALL THE PARTS. WITHOUT ANY BANDMATES TO KEEP IN THE LOOP, HE CAN GIVE FREE REIN TO HIS IMAGINATION.

SAXOPHONIST JANE IRA BLOOM HAS KNOWN AND WORKED WITH HERSCH FOR ALMOST TWO DECADES. HE'S THAT RARE PIANIST, SHE SAYS, WHO DOESN'T NEED A RHYTHM SECTION TO FALL BACK ON.

22) Vox: Jane Ira Bloom (INT 321)

"I think because I knew Fred beginning in quartet settings, and then little by little honing down from trios to duets // that the more you take the instrumentation away, the more revealing and the more free his music becomes - and the more expressive of himself. // I think when someone has such complete ease with their instrument, as I think Fred does, the instrument disappears, and you simply hear his voice."

23) Bradley:

FRED HERSCH PLAYS "DON'T GET AROUND MUCH ANYMORE."

24) Music: "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" (Hersch, JALC, 11/20) 7:15

25) Bradley:

"DON'T GET AROUND MUCH ANYMORE," FRED HERSCH PERFORMS THE MUSIC OF DUKE ELLINGTON AT LINCOLN CENTER'S STANLEY KAPLAN PENTHOUSE.

26) midbreak: "The Wind" (Hersch, JALC 11/20 7:21) or

"In Walked Bud" (Hersch, JALC 11/20 5:37)

27) Bradley:

SUPPORT FOR JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER COMES FROM THE LILA WALLACE-READER'S DIGEST FUND, HELPING PEOPLE TO MAKE THE ARTS AND CULTURE AN ACTIVE PART OF THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES.

(Continued)

28) Bradley: (cont)

SUPPORT FOR JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER'S ELLINGTON CENTENNIAL COMES FROM THE DORIS DUKE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION.

TO SEE THE SCRIPT OF THIS PROGRAM OR FIND OUT MORE ABOUT FRED HERSCH, BILLY STRAYHORN AND DUKE ELLINGTON, CHECK OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.JAZZRADIO.ORG. SEND US E-MAIL IN CARE OF RADIO@JAZZATLINCOLNCENTER.ORG , OR WRITE TO JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER, NEW YORK CITY 10023.

YOU'RE LISTENING TO JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I'M ED BRADLEY.

28a) Bradley:

BORN AND RAISED IN CINCINNATI, FRED HERSCH MASTERED MUSICAL THEORY BY THE TIME HE FINISHED ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. HE CONTINUED HIS STUDIES IN BOSTON AT THE NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY, WHERE HE LEARNED FROM THE ENCYCLOPEDIC PIANIST JAKI BYARD [BYE-ard]. IN THE EARLY 80S HERSCH CAME TO NEW YORK AND BEGAN WHAT HE CALLS HIS "APPRENTICESHIPS" WITH SAXOPHONIST STAN GETZ AND BASSISTS SAM JONES AND CHARLIE HADEN.

29) Vox: Fred Hersch (INT 319)

"I'm lucky that I learned jazz on the bandstand. // I actually learned by playing with these older guys, and they were great to me. They were firm - they kicked my butt, basically, but they were very nice about it. // Being in Art Farmer's band, that was my first real gig - he started me thinking about how to arrange things. He encouraged me to write tunes; he recorded some of my first tunes . . ."

30) Music: "Mirage" (from Art Farmer, Mirage on Soul Note)

31) Bradley:

AS A MEMBER OF ART FARMER'S QUINTET, HERSCH BEGAN TO BUILD A SOLID REPUTATION IN THE JAZZ WORLD. A FEW YEARS LATER, IN THE MID-80s, HE EXPERIENCED TWO EVENTS THAT DRASTICALLY AFFECTED HIS CAREER. IN 1985, HE RECORDED "HORIZONS" HIS FIRST ALBUM AS A LEADER.

32) Vox: Fred Hersch (INT 319)

". . . and not long after that I found out that I was HIV-positive. So my whole career as a leader has had this sort of cloud, If you will, over it. For a long time, I was obviously pretty depressed about it, and felt defeated by it . . . // And then in 1994 I came out very publicly about my sexual orientation, about having HIV, in association with a benefit record I did for Classical Action Performing Arts Against AIDS. I had just gotten a Grammy nomination, I had some career energy, I was feeling physically really good, and I thought, this is a chance for me to do something socially good for the world."

33) (alt) Bradley:

HERSCH PRODUCED "LAST NIGHT WHEN WE WERE YOUNG" WITH FIFTEEN ALL-STAR COLLABORATORS. PROFITS FROM THAT ALBUM WENT TO AIDS RESEARCH; HERSCH BECAME A BUSY ACTIVIST FOR THE CAUSE

33) Bradley:

HIS RECORD, "DANCING IN THE DARK" WAS THE ALBUM THAT BROUGHT HERSCH HIS FIRST GRAMMY NOMINATION.

IN 1996, HE RECORDED HIS HIGHLY ACCLAIMED ALBUM PASSION FLOWER, IT INCLUDES THE TWO BILLY STRAYHORN PIECES WE'LL HEAR NEXT: "LOTUS BLOSSOM" FOLLOWED BY "PRETTY GIRL," BETTER KNOWN BY ITS LATER TITLE "STAR-CROSSED LOVERS."

34) Music: "Lotus Blossom/Pretty Girl" (Hersch, JALC, 11/18) 6:48

35) Bradley:

FRED HERSCH AT LINCOLN CENTER PERFORMING TWO BILLY STRAYHORN BALLADS: "LOTUS BLOSSOM" AND "STAR-CROSSED LOVERS."

TUNES LIKE THOSE GET TO THE CORE OF FRED HERSCH'S PIANO TECHNIQUE. HE HAS A SOPHISTICATED TOUCH, AND AN INCREDIBLE EAR FOR TEXTURES AND COUNTERPOINT.

PIANIST BRUCE BARTH:

36) Vox: Bruce Barth (INT 320)

". . . He gets a very beautiful sound out of the piano. He has a great touch, and not only a // very sophisticated sense of touch, but an incredible ear for balancing colors on the piano - for instance, even within a chord, giving weight to different notes of the chord. // I think he's one of the finest solo pianists around, and he has an incredible mastery of // the possibilities of the piano colors, textures, counterpoint - just going way beyond the concept of right-hand lines, left-hand chords, but ways to approach the piano orchestrally."

37) Bradley:

WE'VE HEARD HERSCH CRYSTALLIZE THOSE COLORS IN WORKS BY STRAYHORN, MONK, AND ELLINGTON. NOW WE CAN HEAR HIS OWN FLOATING GEM. IT'S CALLED "UP IN THE AIR."

38) Music: "Up In The Air" (Hersch, JALC, 11/20) 5:42

39) Bradley:

FRED HERSCH PERFORMED HIS COMPOSITION, "UP IN THE AIR." THIS IS JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER; I'M ED BRADLEY.

40) Music: "You Don't Know What Love Is" (Hersch, Point In Time; Enja)

ESTABLISH FOR AT LEAST 25 SECONDS

41) Bradley:

HERSCH RELIES ON HIS CLASSICAL TRAINING FOR HIS APPROACH TO THE PIANO. BUT HE ALSO THINKS IT'S HARD TO PIN HIS PLAYING DOWN IN TERMS OF THIS CHORD OR THAT ARPEGGIO:

42) Vox: Fred Hersch (INT 319)

"I've never been a heavy practicer - I can't play all my chopin etudes, and I don't spend hours playing scales...//But I think as I've gotten more into it, the things that are classical are really about how I make sound, the physical way that I make sound."

43) Bradley:

HERSCH USES THAT SOUND TO FASHION AN UNUSUAL, ABSTRACT TREATMENT OF "C JAM BLUES" ONE OF ELLINGTON'S SIMPLEST TUNES.

44) Vox: Fred Hersch (INT 319)

"It's just a very cool little riff, and it kind of inspired me to do something that was very abstract as a little motive to mess with - not so much like, 'We're gonna do some gutbucket stuff'.

45) Bradley:

"C JAM BLUES."

46) Music: "C Jam Blues" (Hersch, JALC, 11/20) 4:48

47) Bradley:

FRED HERSCH WITH HIS ARRANGEMENT OF ELLINGTON'S "C JAM BLUES" AT LINCOLN CENTER'S STANLEY KAPLAN PENTHOUSE.

WE'LL CLOSE THIS PROGRAM WITH "IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD." MANY PIANISTS TURN THIS HAUNTING MELODY INTO A MOURNFUL BALLAD. BUT FRED HERSCH TAKES IT AT DUKE'S ORIGINAL, SLIGHTLY FASTER TEMPO.

48) Music: "In A Sentimental Mood" (Hersch, JALC, 11/18) 7:10

49) Bradley (closing - backtime to end of show):

"IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD," THE RESOUNDING PIANO OF FRED HERSCH.

THE ARC OF HIS CAREER HAS LED HERSCH FROM SIDEMAN TO LEADER, TO RENOWNED SOLOIST - AND FROM HIV PATIENT TO AIDS ACTIVIST.

50) Vox: Fred Hersch (INT 319)

"For a long time my health status was the main issue on the plate, and now it's more of a side dish. // It doesn't define me. // For a long time I never thought I would live to be 40. Now 50 is looking very believable. // I feel pretty fortunate to get to do what I do right now. I feel like each year gets better for me."

51) Bradley:

JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER IS PRODUCED BY JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER AND MURRAY STREET ENTERPRISE NEW YORK. THIS PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN BY NEIL TESSER AND EDITED BY LAUREN KRENZEL. OUR SENIOR PRODUCER IS STEVE RATHE.

52) Bradley (cont):

THE RECORDINGS WERE MIXED BY ED HABER AND GEORGE WELLINGTON.

DIGITAL POST PRODUCTION BY DAVID GOREN AT STEVEN ERICKSON'S.

THE PRODUCTION TEAM INCLUDES AVE CARRILLO [AHH-vay cah-REE-yo], GWENDOLYN DEAN, AND JOSH JACKSON.

THANKS TO CHRISTA TETER, SUSAN RADIN, TRACEY SCHUTTY THE RADIO FOUNDATION, AND THE STANLEY H. KAPLAN PENTHOUSE.

THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR OF JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER IS ROB GIBSON. THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR IS WYNTON MARSALIS.

I'M ED BRADLEY. THIS IS N-P-R, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO.