Jazz pianist Fred Hersch ventured into new territory in his début performance at the Ruhr Piano Festival in 2019 with the WDR Big Band conducted by Vince Mendoza: it was the first time he had ever played in public with a big band. Now he returns with his trio, a formation in which he truly feels at home. Since 1985, the man from Cincinnati has been cultivating the classic three-musician-format in long-lasting line-ups with first-class double bassists and drummers. Great jazz pianists including Ethan Iverson (a long-time member of The Bad Plus) and Brad Mehldau were students of his. Jason Moran even sees him as a sort of basketball star: “Fred at the piano is like LeBron James on the basketball court. He’s perfection.” For his harmonically and melodically rich, lyrical playing, Hersch has been selected as Pianist of the Year three times by the Jazz Journalists Association and has been nominated twelve times for a Grammy. Hersch is a foremost interpreter of jazz standards, an original composer in his own right, and a gifted improviser. And he is the leader of a fabulous jazz trio: a universal artist!