The track is released ahead of his May 11th through 21st tour.
Revered pianist/composer Fred Hersch reemerged from the pandemic with one of his most ambitious and acclaimed projects to date: Breath By Breath, his first album ever pairing jazz rhythm section with string quartet. The album found Hersch's trio featuring bassist Drew Gress and drummer Jochen Rueckert joined by the Crosby Street String Quartet, a new ensemble formed especially for the recording. DownBeat called the album, "An amazingly satisfying listening experience," while WBGO hailed it simply as, "Exquisite."
On May 6, 2022, Hersch shares one more piece from that historic session. The pianist's gorgeous new single, "This Is Always," was recorded during the same sessions and boasts the same vibrant blend of nuanced improvisation and lush, richly layered string writing. While the album consisted entirely of Hersch's original compositions, "This Is Always" showcases the pianist's legendary gift for wringing profound, deeply personal emotion from a standard -- in this case the tender Harry Warren/Mack Gordon ballad that's been interpreted by everyone from Charlie Parker to Chet Baker to Sammy Davis Jr.Released in January on Palmetto Records, Breath By Breath drew inspiration from Hersch's longtime practice of mindfulness meditation, centered on the eight-movement "Sati Suite." But while the album is certainly contemplative and lustrous, it's far from being merely an ambient backdrop for blissful relaxation - the music on Breath By Breath is as fully engaged and emotionally rich as any that Hersch has made over the course of his career.
Fred Hersch
A select member of jazz's piano pantheon, Fred Hersch is an influential creative force who has shaped the music's course over more than three decades. A fifteen-time Grammy nominee, Hersch has long set the standard for expressive interpretation and inventive creativity. A revered improviser, composer, educator, bandleader, collaborator and recording artist, Hersch has been proclaimed "the most arrestingly innovative pianist in jazz over the last decade" by Vanity Fair, "an elegant force of musical invention" by The L.A. Times, and "a living legend" by The New Yorker. For decades Hersch has been firmly entrenched as one of the most acclaimed and captivating pianists in modern jazz, whether through his exquisite solo performances, as the leader of one of jazz's era-defining trios, or in eloquent dialogue with his deeply attuned duo partners. His brilliant 2017 memoir, Good Things Happen Slowly, was named one of 2017's Five Best Memoirs by the Washington Post and The New York Times.
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Photo Credits: Stephanie Berger
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