In review--Alive & Well, Thank You
Fred Hersch Trio Alive at the Vanguard Palmetto Records This fantastic jazz trio featuring Fred Hersch (piano), John Hébert (bass) and Eric McPherson (drums) delivers an extraordinary live performance on the double-CD set Alive at the Vanguard . I actually received this CD back in July and have already listened to the CDs several times. However, three weeks ago when I set out to review the recording, CD #1 broke in half in my player. I finally received the replacement. Imagine that this performance is so hot that it breaks the CD in half. Now, that sizzles and so do the tracks on the album which include mostly originals by Hersch topped with standards by Jule Styne ( I Fall In Love Too Easily ), Sonny Rollins ( Doxy ), Charlie Parker ( Segment ), Ornette Colman ( Lonely Woman/Nardis ) and two by Hammerstein. The instrumentals flow well and delight in the manner of standard jazz, but possess more bite, especially with the edgy Seg...