Album: Fred Hersch Plays Jobim // Song: Brigas Nunca Mais
Fred Hersch's gifts are considerable, whether he's interpreting Monk, Richard Rodgers, Ornette Coleman or, yes, even Fred Hersch. He always finds the challenging and the beautiful in his source material. His latest exploration is all Jobim, and with the exception of one track with percussionist Jamey Haddad, it's a solo flight of the highest order. He takes to the skies, sometimes in a romantic tradition, but most often in layered, polyrhythmic workouts.
Both modus operandi remind us why he's a piano player's piano player. Hersch re-harmonizes, syncopates and makes deft choices for his improvs in these Brazilian songs -- whether the commensurate Desafinado, Insensatez and Corcovado, or my favorite, "Brigas Nunca Mais." This record is my top 2009 pick because Hersch reminds me why I started paying attention to him 15 years ago on a collection of Johnny Mandel tunes; his portraiture is not mere recitation, but rather intimate, memorable and masterful works of art adapted from another master's works of art. --Walter Ray Watson, NPR Senior Producer
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