For jazz pianist Fred Hersch,  every day brings a new sound

February 22, 2007

By MARY T. NGUYEN of the Tribune's staff
Published Thursday, February 22, 2007

Fred Hersch is more than just a piano player and certainly more than a musician just because he plays piano. In addition to hitting the keys, he writes the notes as a composer and passes down his knowledge as a teacher in the jazz tradition.

"That's one of the best things about what I do," said Hersch, 51. "Every week is different; everything has a different profile."

Hersch is certainly known for his emotive and rhythmic piano style in the jazz world, but he grew up improvising on classical pieces, experimented with other instruments including the violin and listened to Motown and pop rock in his teens.

He even dabbled with a little electronic synthesizer in the mid-'80s, riding on the New Wave craze. But nothing stuck to him like his love for piano.

"I love the fact that it can be orchestral," he said. "Its ability to play counterpoint - it can have so many moving voices going on. It's also a drum set. The piano is still very interesting to me. It demands a lot, but it's worth it."

His piano playing has garnered him international fame and allows him to play concerts across the globe and take retreats where he can hide away and focus on composing.

"The key is to try to find balance between things that are creatively interesting, staying busy but not burning out," Hersch said. "One of the things I'm grateful for at this stage is being able to say no from time to time. That's a mark of success."

He considers it no mark against his credentials as an internationally renowned pianist to arrive in Columbia from a concert performance in London to play at Murry's as part of the "We Always Swing" Jazz Series. Despite being accustomed to and preferring to play in concert halls, Hersch said smaller clubs provide a more intimate setting in which to gauge the audience.

"When people are really close around, then you really have a chance to feel them," he said. "You can tell by the sort of quality of attention that you're getting or the quality of the silence how into it people are. And that helps if you feel like you're just pissing in the wind, so to speak. It's not as much fun."

But, Hersch said, an audience need not be vocal for him to perceive their response, particularly in smaller venues.

"When I'm playing, there will be no talking or there will be no playing," he said. "I expect it will be a concert environment."

For Hersch, that quiet environment allows him to tap into a zone in his head when he performs that lets him react, whether it's to his audience, his instrument or his accompaniment. Although Hersch is well known for his collaborative performances, his concerts on Sunday will highlight his abilities as a solo artist.

But whether he's playing with one or none, two or 10, Hersch's approach to jazz remains the same.

"When I'm playing, I'm reacting," he said. Whether it's to the piano itself, the acoustic of the room, the tune itself, sometimes the audience has something to do with it. When there's another person involved, you take all those and add what they're doing. And then each person you add, it gets larger, rhythmically, more complex, in a good way.

"Jazz, when you get down to it, is collaborative. I don't like to go too long without playing with other people. It keeps me stimulated and gives me different ideas."

And though he's established himself in the jazz world and the music community, Hersch has no plans to box himself in or to settle down musically. The challenge of keeping himself from doing so is what has kept him doing it for so long.

"It's like tennis," Hersch said, comparing the sport to jazz. "You have to be reactive, ready for anything; know when to take control, know when you need to just be more adaptable. There's no standard for perfection. I really believe in taking chances when I play. If I didn't, I wouldn't play jazz music."