Interview with jazz piano pioneer Fred Hersch

Hersch Piano Portrait LORESI met Fred Hersch back in 1994 during the Vancouver Jazz festival and interviewed him for Coop Radio. It was exciting to me then as 26 year old to be able to sit down and hear about Fred’s already successful career. I had heard great things about him from Chris McCann with who I had studied drums in the 1980’s.

So, now, over 20 years later, I reconnected with Fred again briefly after his Performance Works gig at the 2015 Vancouver Jazz Fest, and he graciously agreed to an interview, which you can listen to below. We talked about many interesting things including his summer tour, his upcoming gigs, pending Solo live album release, his first Downbeat Magazine cover, finally getting his due recognition at nearly 60! And…lots more. Please enjoy.