The Surrounding Green (ECM)
Fred Hersch
Released June 27, 2025
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
AllMusic Favorite Jazz Albums 2025
All About Jazz Best Jazz Albums of 2025
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Fred Hersch’s work is marked by its inwardness, the allusiveness, the restraint. But beneath such apparent discretion bursts a raw sensuality—the flesh of the music, its pulse. – Francis Marmande, Le Monde
Masterful trio interplay reliant on deeply honed three-way communication and a refined sense of understatement make Fred Hersch’s third recording for ECM an essential entry into the piano trio canon. Hersch tackles a handful of 20th century compositions – spanning from standards to less frequented jazz tunes – as well as three originals, with Drew Gress on bass and Joey Baron on drums.
Drew and Joey are longstanding companions of Fred’s who have played with him on and off since the early and late 80s respectively – in various combinations Fred was joined by the one or the other on over a dozen recordings. This however marks their first studio recording as a trio, and their exceptional collective approach, shaped by decades of experience, can be heard (and felt) in every song.
“Joey is such a genius with dynamics that it was no problem at all for us to hear each other in the Auditorio,” notes Hersch. “And the way that Drew plays, for example on ‘Plainsong’ and ‘The Surrounding Green’, there’s so much trust in how we get through the harmony, where we pause and where we move on. I feel that on this record you really hear the history! I hope that people can feel the maturity of the interaction, the sonic world and the sensitivity at play.”
Fred’s own pieces are striking in their lyrical intensity, beaming with elaborate harmonies and interwoven counterpoint on “Plainsong”, timeless melodic invention on the title track “The Surrounding Green” and irresistible Brazilian groove on “Anticipation”. While previous solo renditions of “Plainsong” already introduced the melody’s intimate quality, the trio formula heard here proves quietly revelatory, with bass and drums adding a fresh pulse and expanded harmonic dimensions to the tune. The title track and “Anticipation” are new entries into the Hersch songbook.
As to his approach when writing a new song, Fred insists that he usually composes within a limit timeframe – 45 minutes, the kitchen timer keeps track. His favourite tune writers, Fred says, “Monk, Wayne shorter, Duke or Kenny Wheeler – many of their songs don’t look like much on a page, but they have a kind of world to them. Everything Monk wrote fits on 86 pages – everything! I’m a believer in that a good tune needs no more than two essential elements – it has to be memorable, as in it has to stick. And it should be fun to play, leaving room for the player to bring in whatever they bring.”
The trio’s pass at Ornette Coleman’s “Law Years” is a post-free swinging affair, while Egberto Gismonti’s “Palhaço” offers an elegant journey of subtle trio interaction. And on the Gershwin brothers’ “Embraceable You”, the pianist and his accompanists boast infectious nonchalance. Dedicated to the haunting quality of a melancholy melody, the trio also explores Charlie Haden’s “The First Song”. The late bassist appeared on one of Fred’s earliest studio dates in 1987, also with Baron on drums. Their intimate bond with the song is apparent throughout, making for a particularly stirring interpretation.
“This record to me is very concentrated, which always seems to be the case when I work with Manfred,” says Fred. “It marks my third record with him, all three recorded in Lugano’s Auditorio Stelio Molo – and I can definitely say it’s the perfect condition for kind of playing live, but in a controlled environment.”
Track Listing:
1. Plainsong (Fred Hersch) 05:50
2. Law Years (Ornette Coleman) 04:14
3. The Surrounding Green (Fred Hersch) 05:40
4. Palhaço (Egberto Gismonti) 05:32
5. Embraceable You (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) 06:32
6. First Song (Charlie Haden, Abbey Lincoln) 07:27
7 Anticipation (Fred Hersch) 06:14
Personnel:
Fred Hersch: piano
Drew Gress: double bass
Joey Baron: drums
Recorded May 2024, Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, by Stefano Amerio
Cover: Andreas Kocks
Design: Sascha Kleis
Produced by Manfred Eicher
Review:
Longtime friends and musical kindred spirits, pianist Fred Hersch, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer Joey Baron build on their deep history with 2025’s The Surrounding Green. Billed as the Fred Hersch Trio, the three musicians represent a kind of bridge between the pianist’s original 1980s trio (of which Baron was a member, along with bassist Charlie Haden) and the group he launched in the ’90s (with Gress). Both Baron and Gress were also members of guitarist John Abercrombie’s band and appeared on several of his ECM dates in the 2010s. The Surrounding Green is Hersch’s third ECM album, following his superb 2024 solo piano recording Silent, Listening and his 2022 duo collaboration with trumpeter Enrico Rava, The Song Is You. As with those albums, here the pianist offers a blend of originals and unexpected covers, along with refined readings of classic standards. The opening “Plainsong” is one of his most affecting compositions, bringing together his early Ahmad Jamal influence with a melancholy chamber classical sound. The title track is another standout piece, a sweet, sun-dappled ballad that sounds evocatively like Bill Evans interpreting a Roberta Flack song. Elsewhere, they dive unexpectedly into the off-kilter harmolodics of Ornette Coleman’s “Law Years” and offer a sparkling reading of Brazilian pianist Egberto Gismonti’s “Palhaço.” While Hersch is the focus, he generously spotlights his bandmates, with Gress offering a supple bass intro to Charlie Haden’s “First Song,” while Baron adds his own hushed brush textures to Hersch’s “Anticipation.” An album built on common ground, The Surrounding Green is a deeply intimate experience that benefits from the close camaraderie of Hersch’s trio.
Matt Collar (AllMusic)
