Fred Hersch

"Perhaps it is the proliferation of grace notes, lush left hand harmonies or rubato digressions, but much of Hersch's music, no matter how technically proficient, has seemed wrapped in a gauzy layer of lyricism. In terms of publicity, this means that his has not been the most commanding presence on the scene. But among a handful of today's most popular jazz pianists, from Ethan Iverson to Brad Mehldau, entire swaths of work are cribbed almost entirely from a contemporary, composite style forged in Hersch's laboratory. This performance is a clear-as-day claim-staking by an artist at the height of his powers, a clarion call that all these other latecomers are on notice. - Charles Walker, All About Jazz.