Spalding and Hersch Release Benefit EP

Esperanza Spalding and Fred Hersch preparing for a performance (photograph by Christopher Drukker, courtesy of Braithwaite & Katz)

In October of 2018, jazz vocalist Esperanza Spalding give a series of concerts at the Village Vanguard accompanied only by Fred Hersch at the piano. An album based on those performances has not yet been “officially” released. However, five of the songs that Spalding performed have been collected on an EP, which is being distributed exclusively for download through Bandcamp. All proceeds from sales through the end of this month will benefit the Jazz Foundation of America in its current efforts to assist members of the jazz community impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The “official” price is $17, but the Web page is set up to allow additional donations encouraged on a pay-what-you-wish basis.

The album is a “rough mix,” meaning that the recordings made on site have not been subjected to editing. Each of the songs allows both Spalding and Hersch to explore improvisations that are as adventurous as they are generous. Of greatest interest is “Dream of Monk,” which the two of them have been performing ever since they have been giving duo gigs. It would be unfair to call Hersch’s score a pastiche of music composed by Thelonious Monk, due to the elegant ways in which motifs from different Monk compositions keep bumping into each other. The result is thus more like one of those paraphrases by Franz Liszt than a “Monk medley.” Hersch then added a vocal line setting his own words, which constitute their own reflections on Monk’s legacy. The clarity of Spalding’s delivery allows the informed listener to drink in every subtle evocation of that legacy.

The most traditional of the tracks is “But Not For Me,” a collaboration of George and Ira Gershwin. This is a far cry from the rather straightforward approach this tune took in serving the narrative of the musical Girl Crazy; and the liberties that Spalding takes with Ira’s words are, to say the least, over the top. in Neal Hefti’s “Girl Talk” Spalding indulges in a speculative spoken introduction that wanders into territory that throws Bobby Troup’s lyrics into a whole new light, while Hersch provides just the right deadpan riffs to make sure that Spalding will eventually get back to the tune. Payback then ensues as Hersch lets loose on his own adventurous improvisations on Jule Styne’s tune for “Some Other Time” (not to be confused with the tune that Leonard Bernstein wrote for On the Town). Finally, Egberto Gismonti’s “Loro” provides Spalding with the last burst of adventurous improvisation in her scat singing.

Personally, I did not find anything “rough” in the production of this release. Each of the tracks has its own way of conveying the immediacy of the performance. As far as I am concerned, no further polishing is necessary!