This month: Fred Hersch
Award-winning American pianist, composer, improviser, bandleader and educator Fred Hersch’s career spans nearly half a century and a near-three-figure discography, notably as leader or solo performer. Like most musicians, his live work has been interrupted by the pandemic, but it’s a challenge he’s risen to in various ways, including daily live solos on Facebook. ‘It was just a way of doing service, really – if a tune brightens someone’s day a little, then that was what it was about,’ he says.
Another is Hersch’s latest solo album Songs From Home (reviewed last issue), a collection of popular songs interpreted for solo piano, recorded at his out-of-town residence. It’s a remarkable project that re-invents parlour music as jazz for the lockdown generation. ‘I tried to be faithful to the concept,’ he explains. ‘Literally, songs from home: something that was direct and with emotional resonance.’
‘When playing solo, especially with no audience, the prime interaction is to do with making sound in the room you’re in,’ says Hersch. ‘Also, when you’re doing an album at home you can do unlimited takes, so to avoid that I set aside a specific period of time. One of my things is sound. My teacher always told me to focus on sound and on the tactile relationship between you and the piano’s action. Then you put that sound into rhythm. To that I’d add my own relationship with the piece that I’m playing.’
Nevertheless, surprises happened: ‘There are some things on the album that I didn’t expect to record – I just did one take and thought, “Oh, that was really good!”. There were other tracks where I really had no plan, such as “The Water is Wide”, a folk song that goes back to my childhood, where I went to a number of different keys and made some interludes.’
‘My 65th birthday is coming up,’ he concludes, ‘And while I don’t see this album as any kind of career summation, as hopefully I’ll be able to get back to doing what I love, given this auspicious point in my life I just wanted to create something that would make people happy.’ Roger Thomas