Fred Hersch, Breath by Breath, review: a masterclass in mindfulness

At 66, the self-taught Jazz pianist Fred Hersch is still full of ideas. This latest album, inspired by meditation and breathing, is a refreshingly broad concept album that has room enough for the listener to bring their own imagination and interpretations to the fore.

Hersch is one of New York City’s most revered Jazz musicians, proven by becoming the first solo pianist to hold a weekly residency in the city’s legendary Village Vanguard club. His impact on music has been felt as an improviser, composer and bandleader, with more than 70 recorded compositions in his arsenal over a 40-year period.

Breath by Breath, sees the 15-time Grammy nominee joined by a string quartet and rhythm section – a first for Hersch on a studio album. Violinists Joyce Hammann and Laura Seaton, violist Lois Martin, and cellist Jody Redhage Ferber are four of New York City’s most in demand string players, and make up half of the personnel on the record. Hersch’s core trio provide a light but reliable skeleton for the suite. Bassist Drew Gress – a member of Hersch’s first trio – joins drummer Jochen Rueckert, an in-demand player who’s also collaborated with contemporaries such as Pat Metheny.

Despite eight musicians on the release, Hersch achieves an elastic texture throughout, with his string players – adopting the name of Crosby Street String Quartet – achieving a breath-like swell and release. Hersch is not an artist who demands the limelight – rather, it is by quietly and generously leading his fellow musicians that he shines brightest.

Stand out track Monkey Mind (which is the Buddhist term for being unsettled or restless) is masterfully onomatopoeic. Dissonant plucks from the bass and strings dance around each other mischievously. The execution is light and reactive, balancing that hard-to-achieve illusion of improvisation and impulsivity within a composition.

Percussionist Rogerio Boccato makes a guest appearance on Mara, named after the God who tempted Buddha with wine, women and wealth. His contribution is gentle but effective, offering pensive polyrhythms that chime with the charm of a fantastical clockmaker’s shop. Rising, Falling evokes fairytale lightness, with Hersch’s keys skipping across the quartet’s swelling vibrato strings.

Throughout Breath by Breath Hersch leads melodically, rarely pausing long enough to land a chord. It’s this sparseness that offers a loose texture throughout, helping the listener to swim among the notes rather than get bogged down. The strings and trio were recorded live together so that Hersch could “interact” with the quartet.

While some musicians chose to create soundworlds to escape to during isolation, Hersch has apparently leaned into the void, re-emerging with feelings that are familiar and comforting to us all.

On first listen, Hersch’s suite is a pleasant and fitting piece of mindfulness music. Repeat listens, however, is where the album finds its purpose. Breath by Breath is not pleasant background noise, rather, it encourages us to listen intently. It may be a slow burner, but to borrow the name of Hersch’s 2017 memoir, good things happen slowly.