Fred Hersch

It’s little wonder that Fred Hersch’s “Breath by Breath,” ­­a collaboration between his trio and the Crosby Street String Quartet, is shaded in tender colors. The work emanates from a pianist who prizes lyricism and contemplative improvisation, and whose compositions are often touched by that same assiduousness. Yet Hersch’s eight-movement “Sati Suite,” inspired by his meditation practice, never drifts completely into the ether, thanks to the well-integrated roles of the bassist Drew Gress and the drummer Jochen Rueckert, and to the sympathetically positioned string ensemble.

PERSONNEL:

• Drew Gress (bass)
• Jody Redhage Ferber (cello)
• Jochen Rueckert (drums)
• Rogerio Boccato (percussion)
• Fred Hersch (piano)
• Lois Martin (viola)
• Joyce Hammann, Laura Seaton (violin)

Recorded at the Samurai Hotel, Astoria, New York, August 24-25, 2021.

TRACKS:

• SIDE A
• A1. Begin Again
• A2. Awakened Heart
• A3. Breath By Breath
• A4. Monkey Mind

• SIDE B
• B1. Rising, Falling
• B2. Mara
• B3. Know That You Are
• B4. Worldly Winds