A week ago, Fred Hersch was up for his 15th Grammy Award nomination at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards. The jazz pianist modestly said ahead of the awards show he wasn't expecting to win, but the distinction hints at the influential and consistently skillful career Hersch has led in his 45 years of professional musicianship.
"When you're young, you have lots of energy, you want to try to prove yourself, and you want to make an impression," Hersch shares. "But I'll be 65 in the fall, and I feel like my style is pretty well defined at this point. I have a sound that's mine, and I just sort of relax with it.
FAQ
Fred Hersch Trio
WHEN — 7:30 p.m. today
WHERE — Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville
COST — Sold out
INFO — 443-5600, waltonartscenter.org, fredhersch.com
"I'm not worried about what the young kids are playing too much, or keeping up with the musical Joneses. I just try to do my thing the best that I can and keep my skills up. All you can do is play one phrase and then that makes the next phrase. It's simple and difficult at the same time."
Though he estimates he has composed and recorded easily more than 100 original works over his career, Hersch is also steeped in the history of the genre. When he began playing jazz, it was transmitted in the old-fashioned oral way, handed down from the older musicians to younger musicians, he shares. "You'd play gigs, and you just had to know the tunes that they were likely to call," Hersch recalls.
This led to the pianist becoming obsessed with learning scads of great tunes. He didn't come into composing his own works until around the seasoned age of 24. Musicians today are coming out of an educational model, learning completely differently than he did back in the day, Hersch says. And while both methods have their virtues and their faults, the "whole idea of it is to be personal and not worry about what you're not playing, and just play what you play and find people that you are compatible with," he asserts.
"I talk about tennis as a rough analogy because the only shot you control is the serve," Hersch explains. "After that, it's all reaction.
"So, the only thing I control is the tempo and the harmonic and melodic frame of the song and after that, it's all reaction. And sometimes, you do things that you couldn't even do if you practice them; you're just in the moment and things happen. We love that. That's what we live for, those moments where you're really in the zone."
Hersch will be in the zone as he makes his Fayetteville debut at the Walton Arts Center tonight with his trio of 10 years. The musicians perform a sold-out show as part of the venue's Starrlight Jazz Series and will pull from their abundant repertoire of originals, American songbook classics and some of the great jazz standards.
"And once we've stated the melody or the theme, then wherever it goes, it goes. The performances are never the same."
NAN What's Up on 01/31/2020