Here are two more of the “first impression” reviews as I reduce the “must listen” pile, with new releases from Fred Hersch’s trio and from the quartet of Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter, Larry Grenadier, and Eric Harland—the first as beautifully restrained as the second is beautifully unbound—along with a single that offers a philanthropic opportunity.

Fred Hersch
The Surrounding Green (ECM Records)
A review
The Surrounding Green, the new release from pianist Fred Hersch, in the company of bassist Drew Gress and drummer Joey Baron, opens with a Hersch composition, “Plainsong,” that sets a very high bar for the remainder of album, which the remainder of the album has absolutely no difficulty matching, or even surpassing. Present are Hersch’s inimitable touch, his almost impossible separation of right and left hands, which is especially helpful for the track’s captivating counterpoint, and his masterfully effusive restraint that gives you never too much, never too little, while always fully realizing the music’s expressive potential. Add to that the simpático collaboration of his colleagues, and you have a piano trio album of the first water, with a widely varied program. There’s the swinging pointillism of Ornette Coleman’s “Law Years,” which captures a broad swathe of jazz history; the quiet celebration of gratitude in Hersch’s title track; the carefree and sprightly “Palhaço” from Egberto Gismonti; the Gershwins’ “Embraceable You,” with the familiar melody hidden from view behind a lively three-part improvisation until magically conjured by the trio in the track’s last minute; Charlie Haden’s achingly beautiful lament, “First Song”; and a trip to Brazil in Hersch’s “Anticipation.” The musicality of Hersch, Gress, and Baron gently gifts the heart of each song to the listener.

Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter, Larry Grenadier, Eric Harland
First Meeting: Live at Dizzy’s Club (5Passion Records)
A review
With pyrotechnical musicality and jaw-dropping virtuosity, the quartet of Gonzalo Rubalcaba (piano), Chris Potter (saxophones), Larry Grenadier, (bass), and Eric Harland (drums) achieves weightlessness on every track of their new release, First Meeting: Live at Dizzy’s Club. Each of them remains on high alert, delivering astounding improvisational interactions adeptly attuned to the dynamics and nuances of one another’s performances. Listen to Rubalcaba and Potter trading fours on the opener, Chick Corea’s “500 Miles High,” and again later on club icon Dizzy Gillespie’s “Con Alma.” Of special note are the range of expressive sounds that both Rubalcaba and Potter are able to elicit from their instruments. The highest of all the high points on the six tracks comes on Eric Harland’s “Eminence,” which opens with a long drum intro, gradually takes on the character of hymn, and then begins a slow build propelled by the burbling collaborative intensity of Grenadier and Harland that climaxes with the quartet forcing its way into ecstasy. See if you can keep from yelping in involuntary affirmation, heart pounding away.

Gretchen Parlato and Alan Hampton
“If It Was” (Edition Records)
An announcement
On 22 August, Gretchen Parlato (vocal) and Alan Hampton (songwriter), joined by Gerald and John Clayton (piano and bass, respectively), will release the single “If It Was,” written by Hampton after the 2011 tsunami in Japan. They’ve now revisited it in the wake of the Eaton Canyon fires earlier this year, which deeply affected their Altadena community. All proceeds will go to those impacted by the fires. You’ll find this lovely performance on all the usual streaming services.

If it was
Then it will be
If it did
It ought to do again
If it was what might have been once
Maybe it will once again

If you were
Then you are still
If you have
You probably will again
How I wish you never lost
How I hope this time you win

Always
Never, only, every
Any, absolutely
Someday maybe
We’ll see
(If you are still the same old you)

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