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FRED HERSCH

One of the most brilliant improvisational pianists of our time

A fixture in the jazz pantheon for three decades, with over 50 albums to his credit as leader or co-leader, American pianist, improviser, composer and master thinker Fred Hersch is one of the most Grammy-nominated artists of all time, a total of fifteen times.

Heir to Bill Evans and mentor to Brad Mehldau, Hersch’s virtuosic, delicate and introspective playing instantly transports his audiences.

The pianist’s presence in Paris is rare, and it’s at the festival that he will do us the honor of presenting his new album, released by ECM a few weeks earlier. “Silent, Listening” is a major contribution to the vast repertoire of solo piano recordings that ECM has built up over the years. Seven original pieces plus a handful of exquisitely chosen standards including Billy Strayhorn’s “Star-Crossed Lovers”, Sigmund Romberg’s “Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise”, Alec Wilder’s “Winter Of My Discontent” and Russ Freeman’s “The Wind” – all performed with the same cocktail of concentration, sensitivity and grace for which Fred Hersch is renowned.

Imagine the artist, alone at the piano, in the heart of the wooded architectural jewel that is the grand amphitheatre of the Maison de l’Océan, and you’re witness to a memorable evening.

A moment of pure grace.

Fred Hersch: piano