Pianist Nitai Hershkovits Goes Solo

Pianist Nitai Hershkovits (photograph by Hila Chen, courtesy of ECM Records)

Nitai Hershkovits seems to have made one of his earliest efforts as an improvising jazz pianist when he became a member of the quartet led by saxophonist Oded Tzur. At that time the other members of the quartet were drummer Jonathan Blake and Petros Klampanis on bass. That affiliation brought Hershkovits to the attention of Manfred Eicher, who produced recordings of Tzur’s quartet for ECM Records.

Today ECM released a solo album of Hershkovits, produced again by Eicher. This is a label that has served as a platform for many solo pianists, not only jazz improvisers, such as Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea, but also classical artists, such as András Schiff. Hershkovits may not yet be up to rubbing shoulders (figuratively, at least) with any of “ECM’s finest;” but he may be on the right track.

The title of his new album is Call on the old wise. It consists of eighteen tracks (the first of which is entitled “The Old Wise”), all of which are less than five minutes in duration. It would probably be fair to say that the album is more like a portfolio than the sort of extended performance once might encounter in an auditorium or jazz club. In other words the attentive listener is unlikely to experience the entire album as if it were some sort of integrated journey. Indeed, the disc might actually benefit from a player that has a “shuffle mode,” giving the player technology free rein when it comes to experiencing all eighteen of those tracks.

As of this writing, the album is currently available from Amazon.com only for MP3 download. However, it is important to note that the download itself accounts for not only the eighteen tracks but also the PDF file of the accompanying booklet. The CD is included in the pull-down menu of Purchase Options, but it appears that CD will only become available on December 1. Sadly, the booklet content is limited to little more than the track listing and the image for the album cover.

I am not yet sure how much time I shall devote to further encounters with this album. The track titles tend to be enigmatic. One gets the impression of being poked, but there are at least hints of cuteness in the gestures. The bottom line is probably defined by one of my favorite old saws: “This is the sort of thing that people who like that sort of thing are sure to like!”