Live at the Village Vanguard

Artist: Fred Hersch
Label: Palmetto Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 753957208820
EAN: 0753957208820
ASIN: B00007LB41

Release Date: 2003-01-28

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| Jazz | Styles | Music

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Listmania:

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Customer Reviews:

Essential Jazz.......2005-03-28

I've heard alot of people say that Hersch sounds like Bill Evans. Now I do agree that Bill Evans is a very important pianist and highly influential, but it seems that if any new musician comes along, and has a nice set of voicings (chords), then everyone immediatly says "He's influenced by Bill Evans". The same happened with Brad Mehldau. When I first heard this disc, I didn't hear Bill Evans, I heard Fred Hersch. He definitely has his own personal (and very nice) touch on the piano. Every song on this album blew me away. He just never runs out of ideas! The highlights on this album, to me at least, are the ballads. He blends beautiful lyricism with astounding harmonic depth. I am listening to this album from a musicians point of view (I'm a pianist) and this album is definetly an essential jazz recording. Since I bought the album, I've been listening to nothing else. Highly Essential.

A great set.......2004-02-26

This CD is my first exposure to Fred Hersch, and I'm very impressed. He seems to have found a middle ground between the dissonant and sometimes annoyingly virtuosic playing of younger contemporaries like Brad Mehldau and Ethan Iverson and the Bill Evans-ish lyricism that seems to be his own background. There are a few missteps ("Swamp Thang," a dull, overlong piece that seems to be an ode to 50's horror movie music) but the brilliant touches more than redeem it. Highly recommended.

Great live set.......2004-01-12

I fully agree with the previous review in that Hersch sounds like Bill Evans. This being a plus, that's definitely not the only positive thing about this record. Apart from "Stuttering" there's plenty of other material that makes one wish to sit in and be part of that audience. Nasheet Waits and Drew Gress are great throughout the recording. Last but not the least, the recording quality and mastering stands as an example of what a club live set recording should sound like.

At least one essential addition to the standard jazz rep.......2003-04-07

So I was unimpressed the first time I heard this disc. I thought, "what, another Bill Evans clone?" And at first listen, maybe even second listen, that's what it sounds like. While Hersch does exhibit an intimate grasp of Evans' sound, he is not a revivalist. Gress and Waits round out the rhythm section nicely. As for the music, the disc opens with a fractured cover of Monk's "Bemsha Swing," not quite deconstructed and not quite a straight reading. Then a string of excellent Hersch originals, cultminating in the amazing "Stuttering." Really, "Stuttering" is worth the price of the disc alone. It's that good. Just listen to the disc, I can't believe I'm the first to review it after three months of release. All I can say is you don't know what wonderful stuff you're missing.

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