Fred Hersch if nothing if not a man who knows how to adapt to a challenging situation. A survivor of being in an AIDs coma, he has also been the first jazz musician to use the COVID lockdown as an opportunity to share his musical life via live streaming. Here, he puts together a five-song ep with Esperanza Spalding from a recorded collection of tunes they did back in 2018 at the Village Vanguard. There’s no editing, no “prettying up” of anything; it’s as “live” as you can get, with the funds going to help the Jazz Foundation of America in order to support fellow musicians that are struggling during this unprecedented reaction to a virus.
Hersch is in full extroverted stride, as Spalding sings the entire set with joy, cozy on a coy “But Not For Me” while elastic as Hersch throws out more quotations than Bartlett’s on a clever “Dreams of Monk”. Spalding adds flexible “La Las” here and swell as oohing on the frisky Brazilian “Loro”. Spalding holds court while singing and preaching about “practicing a theme of economic sustainability “ on a sermonette on “Girl Talk” with the two elliptical as Hersch’s left hand ruminates and right hand dreams on “Some Other Time”.
I’m assuming that there may be an ep of the two with Ms. Spalding doing duets on bass as well. This one is a treat in its own right, but the thought of instrumentals as well is simply even more tantalizing. I’d pay full price with two drinks either way.
This one is only available through the end of June, so don’t dilly-dally