Fred Hersch Trio +2 keeps core creativity

There's a reason why the band at the Painted Bride on Saturday was billed as the Fred Hersch Trio +2, rather than the Fred Hersch Quintet.

Hersch's trio with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Nasheet Waits has its own special rapport, captured beautifully on this year's

Night & the Music

. When the lineup expands to include horns, as on the 2004 disc

The Fred Hersch Trio +2

, it is still that core chemistry that centers the music.

Hersch, 52, is a jazz pianist of rare gifts, with a 30-year track record of humming creativity. He appeared at the Bride with Waits and a different bassist, the widely admired John Hebert.

Trumpeter Ralph Alessi seemed more tentative than on the 2004 album, but ultimately found his way through the band's unpredictable currents, excelling on the midtempo "Days Gone By."

Tenor saxophonist Chris Cheek stood in for the more tonally aggressive Tony Malaby. His melodic warmth and ambitious phrasing brought out a distinct beauty in Hersch's tunes, particularly the quartet feature "Sarabande."

Hersch has mastered a broad swath of jazz tradition, going at Thelonious Monk and Richard Rodgers with equal ardor, pursuing memorable collaborations and offering the jazz world an estimable book of original music.

It was all there at the Bride: the flowering harmony of "A Lark," the rhythmic turbulence of "Miss B," the free-spirited swing of "Professor K" and Ornette Coleman's "Forerunner," the Gothic minor-key contours of "Black Dog Pays a Visit."

Wayne Shorter's "Fall," an iconic piece from Miles Davis' mid-'60s period, began with a faithful statement of the melody and ineffable chords.

Hebert improvised as the horns continued the theme, and each instrument came to float freely, from soloing to support and back again.

Waits colored gently on cymbals but worked up to a startling final thunderclap. The song was a daring choice, and Hersch's group took full possession of it.