Fred Hersch, Esperanza Spalding – Alive at the Village Vanguard (2023) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Fred Hersch, Esperanza Spalding - Alive at the Village Vanguard (2023) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz] Download

The 2023 album of the internationally acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Fred Hersch, who has already won major awards, together in a duet with the exceptional artist Esperanza Spalding, who has been awarded in the Grammy category “Best New Artist”, among others.

“Alive At The Village Vanguard” combines high class artistry of both to create an authentic and profound work between Jazz and Neo Soul live from the legendary venue. Released as a CD on Palmetto Records. born in Ohio in 1955, Hersch began playing the piano at the age of only four and showed such great talent that he was awarded a scholarship to the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music in his teens, from which he graduated in 1977 with the best possible grades. He then moved to New York, where he quickly became an extremely sought-after pianist through early collaborations with greats such as Stan Getz, Joe Henderson, Jane Ira Bloom, Toots Thielemans and Gary Burton, and developed the impressionistic style between classical jazz, improvisation and classical music that still characterizes him today. The Portland-born multi-instrumentalist Esperanza Spalding also showed great musical talent at an early age, learning violin, double bass and singing

Already active as a concertmaster at the age of 15, she became the youngest professor at Berklee at only 20 and has worked with artists such as Pat Metheny, Stanley Clarke, Mike Stern and Patti Austin to this day. In addition to winning countless critics’ awards and five solo Grammy Awards, Spalding has played with Steve Wonder at the White House. Among the most important and recognized artists of modern jazz, Fred Hersch and Esperanza Spalding will be part of the renowned “Alive At The Village Vanguard” series, in which two exceptional artists are always invited to play an unforgettable concert at the legendary Village Vanguard.Beginning as a musically gifted child who performed with the Chamber Music Society of Oregon at age five and gaining wider acclaim as a standup jazz bassist and as one of the youngest instructors in the history of her alma mater Berklee College of Music, Esperanza spalding now has her sights on the more difficult path of jazz singer. In this pre-pandemic duo set at NYC’s Village Vanguard—well-recorded by distinguished engineer James Farber—Spalding and pianist Fred Hersch open with George and Ira Gershwins’ “But Not For Me.” Spalding’s singing is playful and airy, which seems to work against her as it adds little insight or artistry. There’s a long interlude of scat singing on a cover of Charlie Parker’s “Little Suede Shoes” but she becomes more of a talker than a hold-that-note song stylist as the song progresses. Hersch expertly stays with her through the banter. After an opening where he ornaments Spalding’s scatty bleeps and boops on Thelonious Monk’s “Evidence,” Hersch gets to stretch and play jumpy, beautifully harmonized lines. He plays soft and lyrical on the Sammy Cahn/Jule Styne classic “Some Other Time” where Spalding gets serious and shifts into crooning. Alive is another in the long tradition of jazz albums recorded at this redoubtable club, a fascinating snapshot of a mid-career Spalding who sees the possibility in a jazz/spoken word hybrid, but remains raw and uncertain in finding her place out front. – Robert Baird

Tracklist:

1-1. Fred Hersch – But Not for Me (09:32)
1-2. Fred Hersch – Dream of Monk (07:36)
1-3. Fred Hersch – Little Suede Shoes (09:03)
1-4. Fred Hersch – Girl Talk (12:03)
1-5. Fred Hersch – Evidence (06:35)
1-6. Fred Hersch – Some Other Time (08:29)
1-7. Fred Hersch – Loro (09:37)
1-8. Fred Hersch – A Wish (04:34)

Download:

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