Fred Hersch Interview

[robertoart]

[fasstrack]

Bump. Just reread this and my original comments were unwarranted. It's a great interview and discussion of the cats. Fred doesn't come off as an egotist as much as a driven achiever. Sorry about what I said earlier, guess it was the way it hit me then.

[sgcim]

One thing I didn't hear mentioned was something someone mentioned to me about FH recently.

He comes from an extremely wealthy family, and never had to work a day in his life.

This might explain his ability to book gigs for $200, and pay famous musicians $100 each, while he got nothing.

Edited September 21, 2013 by sgcim

[jlhoots]

One thing I didn't hear mentioned was something someone mentioned to me about FH recently.

He comes for an extremely wealthy family, and never had to work a day in his life.

This might explain his ability to book gigs for $200, and pay famous musicians $100 each, while he got nothing.

And your point is???

[sgcim]

'You do the math.'

[JSngry]

Yeah, it's not like practicing and all that is really work...

[Larry Kart]

One thing I didn't hear mentioned was something someone mentioned to me about FH recently.

He comes from an extremely wealthy family, and never had to work a day in his life.

This might explain his ability to book gigs for $200, and pay famous musicians $100 each, while he got nothing.

Don't know the facts about Hersch's supposedly extremely wealthy family background (though the Do the Math interview has him playing on some expensive pianos as a boy), but as for him never having "had to work a day in his life," fact is he has quite literally worked a great deal over the years, i.e. been paid for playing music in public for people that AFAIK were not being paid off by Hersch in return for hiring him. Is your point then that, as someone who supposedly came from a very wealthy background, he should have played all those gigs for free? Also, the account of Hersch's life circumstances that he gives in passing in that interview hardly suggests that as an adult he has been living a life of great material ease, although I suppose he could have been playing things close to the vest financially in order to preserve the size of his supposed golden nest egg. But again, what do you want him to have done? Not play professionally at all? Further, if one feels as I do that Hersch on a good day is an interesting player, why should his supposed affluence make one think less of him as musician?

[Chuck Nessa]

None of this mattered to me. FH showed up too late for me to take him seriously - for me music had moved on and my attention was elsewhere.

[JSngry]

He doesn't really matter to me either. I first heard him with Billy Harper and didn't mind, but also wondered why he was there. Best I can figure is that he was there just because he was there. Sometimes that's all there is to it. The Just Some Guy Syndrome in one of its infinite manifestations.

However, I find the notion that his coming from affluence and then achieving a high degree of musical skill did not involve actual work is confusing a convenience afforded by advantage/privilige with a lack of necessity to still hunker down and get it done. I find that notion ill-conceived, to put it mildly.

We're not talking some ham-fisted clamhead who bought himself a spotlight for his inabilities. The guy can play his instrument, and that takes work, lots of work, no matter how you slice it.

[Blue Train]

Yeah, it's not like practicing and all that is really work...

And he's had HIV/AIDS since the mid-80's/early 90's and even went into coma in 2008 for a couple month (it got so bad he needed a tracheotomy and feeding tube) after a bought of AIDS related dementia and had to "relearn" to play again.

The easy life.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/magazine/31Hersch-t.html?pagewanted=all

P.S. Not liking someone's playing/music is one thing....bringing up how rich/poor/whatnot as a reason....seriously?

Edited September 22, 2013 by Blue Train

[sgcim]

One thing I didn't hear mentioned was something someone mentioned to me about FH recently.

He comes from an extremely wealthy family, and never had to work a day in his life.

This might explain his ability to book gigs for $200, and pay famous musicians $100 each, while he got nothing.

Don't know the facts about Hersch's supposedly extremely wealthy family background (though the Do the Math interview has him playing on some expensive pianos as a boy), but as for him never having "had to work a day in his life," fact is he has quite literally worked a great deal over the years, i.e. been paid for playing music in public for people that AFAIK were not being paid off by Hersch in return for hiring him. Is your point then that, as someone who supposedly came from a very wealthy background, he should have played all those gigs for free? Also, the account of Hersch's life circumstances that he gives in passing in that interview hardly suggests that as an adult he has been living a life of great material ease, although I suppose he could have been playing things close to the vest financially in order to preserve the size of his supposed golden nest egg. But again, what do you want him to have done? Not play professionally at all? Further, if one feels as I do that Hersch on a good day is an interesting player, why should his supposed affluence make one think less of him as musician?

I was just remarking on the fact that I had a conversation with a NYC musician last week who told me that FH came from a very wealthy family.

He was bemoaning the fact that he didn't have the luxury that a guy like FH had, of being able to practice all day without having to be concerned with things like making the rent, eating, etc...

I was careful to make no value judgements about FH, but some of you seem to think I was inferring something about him.

I was surprised that EI made no reference to the fact that FH is the heir to some great fortune as my friend said, so maybe it isn't even true.

However, if you read between the lines of that interview, there does seem to be some evidence that FH must have a substantial amount of money from some source other than music.

I was a little surprised of the two pianists' dismissal of a giant like Oscar Peterson, while FH seemed to proclaim many times that he himself was the most swinging pianist around today. If you're going to proclaim that about yourself, and then dismiss OP- that seems a little odd...

I just did some searching on the net, and his father is Henry Hersch, an attorney.

Edited September 22, 2013 by sgcim

[fasstrack]

http://jazztimes.com/articles/103992-fred-hersch-wisdom-for-singers

Here's another discussion between FH and Roseanna Vitro----on the dos and don'ts of pianist singer accompaniment and collaboration. No personal stuff here, it's all music. Well worth reading.

[Dmitry]

Late to the party, as usual...

Just read this interview, along with the NYT spread.

My $.02. Hersch's playing, what I heard of it,  is full of technical faculty, and short of much else. It's introspective, but not introspective enough; it doesn't swing where it has to, and it doesn't make me cry where it should. I'm also not keen on the persistent necessity of injecting his sexuality in both the interview and the article. Other than that, both were interesting reads. Wish him the best of health, and long years!

Edited March 17, 2017 by Dmitry

[paul secor]

To my ears, Fred Hersch's playing sounds like he's a banker.

Edited March 17, 2017 by paul secor

[Scott Dolan]

He played a solo concert here several years ago. It was enjoyable, but not terribly remarkable.