RALPH ALESSI & FRED HERSCH: Only Many

RALPH ALESSI & FRED HERSCH

Only Many

Cam Jazz

Pianist Fred Hersch is a master of many forms, from solo piano to large ensembles, but he seems particularly to revel in duos. Previous collaborations, with artists such as singer

Norma Winstone

and guitarist

Bill Frisell

, have revealed Hersch as the most inventive of musical partners, sensitive and supportive of his counterparts, always serving the music and not his own vanity. Here, with

Ralph Alessi

– one of the leading trumpeters of the New York “downtown” scene – he once again shows his class in an engrossing set that includes improvisations, original compositions, and two well-judged standards – Thelonius Monk’s

San Francisco Holiday

and Paul Motian’s

Blue Midnight

. Free from both ego and cliché,

Only Many

is a fascinatingly open exchange between two mature and enlightened musicians.

[ camjazz.com ]