Fred Hersch – Silent, Listening

Fred Hersch a pianist of intimate, profound and elegant atmospheres, needs no presentation, but the release of his latest opus is always an opportunity to rediscover the spectral range of a pianist whose musical introspections could pass for the Philip Glass of jazz.

Between original compositions and a few standards, Fred Hersch sails over the keys, his sound pure and crystalline, with just the right amount of silences, interpreted as notes, which further enhance the depth of his interpretation. The brilliance of the playing is suspended between low and high notes in haunting ostinato and silent interludes.

O note, suspend your timbre!

Is this a well-tempered keyboard or a sonic discovery in every phrase, a minimalist recital or groping explorations (Akrasia)? A classical purity whose verve marries its vein. A series of short pieces whose outcome leaves us to improvise inwardly.

Strange or mysterious, this is music that can’t be guessed at, music that you have to accompany by searching, no doubt as the transcendence that prefigures the chosen note suggests. In any case, this is a recording in which the excellence of the composition rivals the virtuosity of the interpretation.

Then, towards the end, a rereading of Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise, on which it’s easy to imagine Mozart teasing her on the harpsichord.

Radiant modesty would be the perfect oxymoron to describe this piano lesson.

There’s no need to add to it. As the title invites us to do: silence and listen!