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| Hersch Learns To Play The Piano Again For 'Whirl' In late 2008, the pianist Fred Hersch spent two months in a coma and lost nearly all motor function in his hands. His album 'Whirl, ' out June 22 from Palmetto Records, shows the brilliant results of his re-learning to play. "At first, I had to learn to work with a more limited palette, technically, as a pianist, " he told The New York Times Magazine recently. Nonetheless, he says, "My playing became looser and more confident. " That's evident on "Skipping, " a swinging, mixed-meter gem on 'Whirl' that Hersch calls "challenging and fun to play." "I was surprised that my facility has come back, " he admits, but feels that his new style is more emotional and has more of an element of reckless abandon. "I've been in New York since '77, and now I want to throw it down." Critics agree. The Chicago Tribune's Howard Reich recently wrote: "Hersch's playing sounded more persuasive than in the past." The New Yorker recently called Hersch "one of the greatest contemporary pianists." The flowing, elegiac last track on the album, "Still Here, " shows that Hersch can still dazzle, and that he's done more than survive his illness, he's triumphed. "It's almost like an encore, " he says. write your comments about the article :: © 2010 Jazz News :: home page |