When pianist Fred Hersch debuted on ECM performing a duet with flugelhornist Enrico Rava on The Song Is You (2022), one might ponder, “What took so long?” Hersch has long been a pianist known for his introspective treatment of jazz standards and his peri-classical compositions that would fit well with Manfred Eicher’s “ECM Sound.” Hersch’s Silent, Listening is his running start to claim his place with Keith Jarrett, Stefano Bollani, and Vijay Iyer.
Silent, Listening is a distillation, a purification of solo jazz piano. It is quiet contemplation and its closest relative in the ECM catalog would be Keith Jarrett’s The Melody At Night With You (ECM, 1999). From where Jarrett performed ethereal standards, Hersch has further distilled his originals and standards to their punctilious essence. Hersch plays a shiny sound suite consisting of seven originals and four selections that are not.
Hersch opens his contemplation with a tentative and delicate performance of the Ellington-Strayhorn piece, “Star-Crossed Lovers,” setting a quiet tone for his recital, his originals all having crepuscular titles and personalities, “Night Tidelight,” “Akrasia,” “Silent, Listening,” and “Starlight.” These are relaxed and pensive musings
One splendid inclusion here is pianist Russ Freeman’s “The Wind,” which was first recorded on Chet Baker & Strings (Columbia, 1954). Hersch strips the tune of all edifice, revealing a carefully constructed melody with which he has his gentle way in his extended consideration. Beautifully rendered, it is an enlightening subject for comparison with the original recording.
“Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise” is presented cleverly as a sonic reversal. While Hersch plays the melody straight with his right hand, he adds all improvisation with his left, leaving the familiar lyric floating above an increasingly anxious bottom. It is a nice display of the pianist’s delicate mastery.