Product Description

After a run of lightning in a bottle live albums, the Fred Hersch Trio returned to the studio to document the ongoing evolution of his primary ensemble, featuring bassist John Hébert and drummer Eric McPherson. The remarkable album 'Floating' captures the trio in exceptional form, playing with unparalleled rhythmic resourcefulness, ravishing lyricism, and telepathic interplay.

While the album focuses on Hersch's original compositions, two American Songbook standards serve as lyrical touchstones. Propelled by McPherson's clattering sticks, the trio opens the session with an intricately patterned sojourn through "You and the Night and the Music" that builds to a two-handed montuno. The trio closes with a sensuous caress of "If Ever I Would Leave You" and a measured but exacting investigation of "Let's Cool One," continuing Hersch's longstanding tradition of closing most performances with a Monk masterpiece.

The trio's last release, 2012's 'Alive at the Vanguard' was a critically hailed double album that earned the Grand Prix du Disque, France's top jazz award. With five years and numerous national and international tours under their belts, the group has continued to hone its rarefied communion, a creative fission evident on 'Floating'.

Personnel: Fred Hersch (piano), John Hébert (bass), Eric McPherson (drums)

Review

(4 stars) An account of You and the Night and the Music is a breathtaking piece of uptempo contrapuntalism, his left hand striking out on an imperiously different melodic path to the classic theme on the right, while McPherson's airy rimshots snap. The title track is a poignant ballad caressed by a soft countermelody...Home Fries is a catchy groover with a dazzling improv run. --The Guardian, (John Fordham), July 10, 2014

(4 stars) Floating is a collection of new compositions worthy of a contemporary master of American jazz, and Hébert and McPherson know just how to respond to the pianist's lyricism, each leaving space for the others to gently float into. --The Irish Times, (Cormac Larkin), July 11, 2014

(5 stars) Hersch is as perfectly poised as ever...It seems as if Hersch, for too long an in-house secret, is enjoying a particularly purple patch at the moment. This set is as good as its live predecessor, so long may he and his trio continue to play together. --Jazz Journal, (Simon Adams), September 2014

(4 stars) Floating advances convincing evidence of a breadth of vision that has taken more than 20 years to perfect, and on this album his seven originals have both depth and originality that can be returned to time and again. --Jazzwise, (Stuart Nicholson), September 2014

(4 stars) The musician from Ohio has never enjoyed the fame of a Keith Jarrett or the acclaim of a Brad Mehldau, but he's still a master of the piano trio...Home Fries has a bluesy Jarrett-like feel and some inspired improvisation, and a light-fingered update of Thelonious Monk's Let's Cool One rounds off a coolly assured set. --The Times, (John Bungey), July 19, 2014

(4 stars) Floating advances convincing evidence of a breadth of vision that has taken more than 20 years to perfect, and on this album his seven originals have both depth and originality that can be returned to time and again. --Jazzwise, (Stuart Nicholson), September 2014