Mateo's Magic Bus was parked right out front of the Village Vanguard last week for a late(r) night set with the Fred Hersch Trio (Fred, Drew Gress on Bass, Jonathan Blake on Drums) . Had quick overnight visit to NYC and checked the Vanguard schedule on the train ride over from Long Island, holy moly, Fred Hersch Trio and tix still available the late set, dreams do come true!
Lady Ameo and I had seen Fred in a solo show about 6-7 years ago at the SF Jazz Center, sublime and amazing and was hoping to be able to see him in the club setting at some point. Fred, Drew and Jonathan were a perfect, well oiled machine on this night, like one brain playing all three instruments. The house was full by the time the lights went down, and what a treat for all of us!
The set ranged from a few Sonny Rollins originals and a tribute to Sonny, who recorded one of the first live albums at the Vanguard back in the late 50s. Fred also chose "one of his favorite songs of all time" Jerome Kern's This Song is You (Oscar Hammerstein wrote the lyrics). The amazing trio also featured some of Fred's originals and ended with Ornette Coleman's Forerunner - amazing set, amazing trio, and a great life memory, check that box!
Love this great quote on Fred from the NY Times: "In the quest to describe the music of Fred Hersch in a word — a preposterous task, but not a pointless one — you could do a lot worse than “refinement.” Mr. Hersch is a pianist of cultivated taste and erudition; he’s also the sort of jazz musician who brings a lissome elegance to his playing, disinclined to accentuate the effort behind it all. But there’s another definition of refinement that has to do with painstaking progress, the incremental stretch toward an elusive ideal. "
For those of you who haven't been to the Vanguard, below is a quick video of the pre show vibe (they do not allow video or pix during the sets) , when you're in the City, make sure you catch a set, regardless of who is on the bill & you might get lucky like I did on this night.
Rock on,
DJ Mateo
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