2012-11-14
7:30PM
n/a
"Hurel is one of Boston's real gems. His style is impressionistic and adventurous, coming off somewhere between Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett."- Steve Greenlee, The Boston Globe
The Pierre Hurel Trio
Featuring: Pierre Hurel, piano
John Funkhouser, bass
Mike Connors, drums
In 2002, Pierre Hurel released with his trio one of his most acclaimed CDs: “The Crush”. Its success led the Trio to become what The Boston Globe’s Steve Greenlee called “Boston’s most sensitive working group”. Hurel's reputation continued to grow and his trio made the Boston Globe's short list of the 10 Best Shows of 2003 alongside Norah Jones and Dave Brubeck, among others. After spending the last five years venturing into solo playing and exploring a new language through his improvisations, Pierre Hurel will be reunited with his trio for a performance marking the 10th anniversary of “The Crush”.
Born in Paris, pianist and composer Pierre Hurel was first discovered by Paris Jazz Conservatory’s founder and director Charles Henry. At age 20, as he was about to reluctantly start a career in business, Hurel decided to change course and enrolled at the School of Modern Music in Paris. Six months later, he came to Boston for a summer session at the Berklee College of Music and has remained here ever since.
Jazz journalist Virginia Schaefer wrote in AllAboutJazz.com: ”Hurel's compositions and playing show the influence of European classical music, particularly of the romantic and impressionistic eras. In his playing, Hurel projects a natural grace, easygoing on the surface but precise and focused at the core.” Mr. Hurel was described by the Boston Globe's David Wildman as "The extraordinary-local-but-Paris-born pianist." Reviewing one of his performances, Steve Greenlee wrote in the Boston Globe "Hurel is one of Boston's real gems. His style is impressionistic and adventurous, coming off somewhere between Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett ... The Pierre Hurel Trio is Boston's most sensitive working group."
Hurel has been featured numerous times on New England Cable News and his music has been played on WGBH, WERS, WBUR, WMBR, Paris Jazz, Europe 1 and France inter, among others. He has recorded five albums, most of which are available online at amazon.com. Hurel is a regular at the famous Cambridge Regattabar, has appeared at numerous Jazz festivals and Jazz clubs including the Duc des Lombards in Paris, the Knickerbocker in New York and locally at Sculler’s and Ryles Jazz clubs, among others. He is also a faculty member at the Boston Conservatory, where he teaches a unique non-idiomatic improvisation workshop that is attracting more students every year.
