Thirteen Ways is the most engaging album Fred Hersch has led or co-led since his ’84 JMT duet disc with Jane Ira Bloom, As One. His celebrated introspection and lyricism has a tendency to be a bit precious if not leavened by the jocularity and probity that clarinet/alto saxophonist Michael Moore and percussionist Gerry Hemingway bring to the table (Moore and Hemingway’s duo track, “Steel And Clarinet,” featuring Hemingway’s steel drums, is a useful gauge).
Subsequently, on this diverse, well-paced program, Hersch not only delivers the expected heart-peeling balladry (his own “Calm”) and buoyant standards-bearing (“Speak Low” and “Star Eyes”), but cogently digs into some off-center compositions, as well. The most challenging of these is Hersch’s evocative 16-minute title piece, comprised of 13 loosely-structured improvisations that mirror the sections of the Wallace Stevens poem, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” It is an absorbing work that taps the ambiguous, often dark undercurrents of the text.
Monk and Morton are two pianists not automatically associated with Hersch, so his full-bodied readings of the seldom reprised “Boo Boo’s Birthday” and “Mr. Jelly Lord” are particularly welcomed. On Hersch’s “Swamp Thang,” he boldly melds bluesy panache and modernist angularity. These three tracks go a long way to undermine the simplistic “poet of the piano” hype generated by Hersch’s Nonesuch songbook albums; Hersch is a complex, multi-faceted artist.
Two related Ramboy discs led by Moore are just as good as Thirteen Ways: Home Game features a quintet with Hersch, Hemingway, bassist Mark Helias and trumpeter Herb Robertson; Chicoutimi is a trio date with Hersch and Helias. - Bill Shoemaker
Put pianist Fred Hersch, clarinetist Michael Moore, and percussionist Gerry Hemingway together in a setting where anything goes, and you get three improvisational masters coming together as one, and playing it many more than Thirteen Ways. This trio collectively perform chamber-like jazz with traditional flair, harmonic character, and a united intent of purpose. The middle of the CD features a series of duets: the lower-dynamic clarinet and piano conversation "I Connected," the dancing steel drum and clarinet in "Steel & Clarinet" (a liltingly lovely alto sax and piano take on the standard "Speak Low"), and the kinetic, bouncy and fluid piano and drum kit treatment of "Star Eyes," with a calypso drum solo. The title track is a 16-plus-minute tour de force magnum opus that is divided into 13 sections, each inspired by individual poems that were attached to the score. It ranges from broodingly dark, two-chord piano, vibrant clarinet solo, furious clarinet and piano, solo piano, more steel drums, overblown bass clarinet, modal piano, fluttering clarinet, and Steve Reich-like minimal piano. The finest of Hersch's writing comes out on "Swamp Thang," with the slinkiest, sneakiest, snake-like clarinet and piano line, with wondrous brush work, and deserving of a big-time wow! "Brunheiras" is more a rubato ballad merging to a 6/8 figure, Moore again sounding a bird-like fluttering, while other standards, such as Monk's "Boo Boo's Birthday," and Jelly Roll Morton's "Mr. Jelly Lord" are done quite faithfully, singing with a respect worthy of aThanksgiving repast. Hersch fans will be pleasantly surprised by this effort, people who know Moore from his work with Clusone Trio will summarily be anxious to own this, and Hemingway, at the top of his game, can really do no wrong with this infinitely expressive combo. Highly recommended. - Michael G. Nastos
Tracks
01. Brunheiras (Michael Moore)
02. Swamp Thing (Fred Hersch)
03. Thirteen Ways (Hersch)
04. Boo Boo's Birthday (Thelonious Monk)
05. I Connected (Moore)
06. Steel & Clarinet (Gerry Hemingway/Michael Moore)
07. Speak Low (Kurt Weill)
08. Star Eyes (Gene De Paul / Don Raye)
09. Moloundou (Moore)
10. Mr. JellY Lord (Jelly Roll Morton)
11. Calm (Fred Hersch)
FRED HERSCH piano
MICHAEL MOORE clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone
GERRY HEMINGWAY drums, percussion
Recorded June 1995 at Ambient Recording Co in Stamford, Connecticut, in June 1995
GM Recordings - GM3033CD