spalding and Hersch at the Village Vanguard

esperanza spalding and Fred Hersch on the cover of their new duo album

Some readers may be aware that I have done my best to keep up with the work of jazz pianist Fred Hersch, knowing full well that I shall never arrive as a “complete works” account. Indeed, that interest predates much of what I have written on this site and was probably triggered by a concert he presented for San Francisco Performances in February of 2016, back when I was writing for Examiner.com. The fact is that Hersch’s efforts have done much to keep me busy, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indeed, it was only about a month after after lockdown conditions were imposed that I experienced my first streaming experience of Hersch. That was The Ballad of Fred Hersch, a documentary made by Charlotte Largarde and Carrie Lozano in 2016. This was followed by the release of a benefit EP of recordings made at the Village Vanguard on October 19, 20, and 21 of 2018, when Hersch, a Vanguard “regular,” gave a duo performance with vocalist esperanza spalding. Proceeds from the sales of that EP benefitted the Jazz Foundation of America in its efforts to assist members of the jazz community impacted by the pandemic.

The five tracks on that EP now contribute to a full album entitled Alive at the Village Vanguard. The EP tracks were “But Not For Me,” “Dream of Monk,” “Girl Talk,” “Some Other Time,” and “Loro.” The added tracks are Charlie Parker’s “Little Suede Shoes,” Thelonious Monk’s “Evidence,” and “A Wish,” composed by Hersch for lyrics by Norma Winstone. The album will be released this coming January 6; and, as expected, Amazon.com has created a Web page for processing pre-orders.

Those that follow the activities of the San Francisco Symphony probably know that Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen selected spalding as one of his Collaborative Partners. However, according to my records, her last appearance in Davies took place at the beginning of October of 2021 in its first post-pandemic program, which was given the title “Re-Opening Night.” Personally, I miss the agility of her vocal work, which could hold its own in Davies as well as it could at the Vanguard. On the other hand Davies is too cavernous for the intimate interleaving of voice and piano that makes Alive at the Village Vanguard a listening experience that is both compelling and refreshing.

I have given the tracks on this new release a generous number of listening experiences, and I encounter something new on each of those occasions. Both Hersch and spalding clearly put a lot of thought into preparing and then capturing the tracks on this album. I suspect that I shall be catching up with all of that thought for some time to come.