If you’ve been a jazz fan over the last several decades, you have surely heard the brilliant drummer Jeff Hirshfield on something. I am looking very much forward to having my first opportunity to play with him as part of Jamie Baum’s visit to Resonant Motion’s Jazz Up Close series on September 11, and here is a varied sampling of some of my favorite recorded moments from his storied career. They are presented chronologically, and note that since I did a separate Top 10 list of Jamie’s music (on which he is present for more than half the selections) I gave myself the further restriction of limiting this list to non-Jamie tunes.   

1 ) “Simone” from Etc. by Fred Hersch (1988)

This wonderful trio record is the first of Jeff’s half dozen recorded encounters with pianist Hersch and the first of literally dozens with bassist Steve LaSpina. Though Jeff doesn’t solo on this Frank Foster waltz, he is right there interacting with fire and sensitivity from the beginning to the end.  

2 ) “Dream of the Blue Turtles” from Straight to My Heart: the Music of Sting by Bob Belden (1989-1991 – exact date for this track unclear)

A case could be made that Jeff is the MVP of this stylistically diverse album of Belden’s arrangements of Sting tunes. He swings hard on this uptempo instrumental behind the written music and solos by pianist Joey Calderazzo, guitarist John Hart, and trumpeter Tim Hagans in addition to getting a powerful featured spot of his own.

3 ) “Bayou Blues” from Full Moon by Dave Stryker (1993)

Versatility has been a hallmark of Jeff’s career as a sideman, and it is correspondingly noteworthy how stanky his blues pocket is on tunes like this one considering how well known he is for work that is more rhythmically esoteric. He and frequent collaborator Jay Anderson lay it down for guitarist Stryker and saxophonist Steve Slagle.

4 ) “Watch Your Head” from The Luxury of Guessing by David Binney (1994)

Binney’s music tends to be dense and complex, which requires a drummer who can both play the music accurately and make it sound organic. That’s exactly what Jeff does throughout this album, and his funk pocket is unassailable. He prods guitarist Ben Monder before he and Binney engage in a fiery duet that foreshadows their subsequent duo record.

5 ) “Lorraine” from Notes on Ornette by Paul Bley (1997)

There are moments when Jeff and Jay Anderson lay down a groove on this 10+ minute trio exploration of an early Ornette Coleman, but what is perhaps most exciting is hearing their synergy with Paul Bley and the ways that the explicit use of in-tempo swing feels like it could appear or disappear at any moment, always feeling organic. And that is only underscored by the patient, tasteful drum solo that follows their ensemble improvisation.

6 ) “Ask Me Now” from Bounce by Steve LaSpina (2001)

It is no accident that Jeff has become an indispensable accompanist to bassist/bandleaders like Jay Anderson, Ron McClure, and Michael Formanek. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the enormous catalogue of Steve LaSpina records to feature him, not to mention their collective work accompanying others, with a particular concentration of guitarists, including Jim Hall, Vic Juris, Jerry Hahn, and John Abercrombie. Juris is featured on this wide-ranging performance of a classic Monk ballad, as are two more repeated collaborators, trumpeter Dave Ballou and saxophonist Billy Drewes.

7 ) “Monk’s Dream” from Trillix by Harold Danko (2003)

If you are noticing a trend of “people think Jeff is great and they hire him over and over again,” you are astute. By my count, he appears on twenty (!) of the brilliant pianist Harold Danko’s records. This trio performance with Formanek of another Monk chestnut is another great example (though contrasting stylistically with the Paul Bley performance cited above) of an interpretation that walks the tightrope between straightforward swinging and perpetual interactivity.  

8 ) “The Monetary System Blues” from American Dream by Taylor Haskins (2009)

Trumpeter/composer Haskins wrote this infectious, yet metrically off-kilter boogaloo tune and plays an authoritative, electrified solo, as does guitarist Ben Monder. But if you find yourself shaking your booty instead of trying to keep count (which I suspect will be so) then Jeff deserves a great deal of credit for digging into a pocket that makes that possible.

9 ) “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” from Organique by Rich Perry (2014)

Yet another frequent collaborator of Jeff’s is saxophonist Rich Perry, with over a dozen of the latter’s albums featuring Jeff as the drummer, not to mention even more than that many records on which they are both sidemen. This trio performance with Gary Versace on organ doesn’t feature a drum solo, but boy does it demonstrate how hard Jeff swings.  

10 ) “The Call” from Kimbrough by Various Artists (2021)

Jeff is heard here alongside saxophonists Scott Robinson and Allan Chase, brass virtuosi Riley Mulherkar and Ryan Keberle, and the rhythm section of Samora Pinderhughes and Ben Wolfe. Together they lean into a composition by another of Jeff’s employers, pianist Frank Kimbrough, whose own version of this moody tune was only recently and posthumously released. The reverential tone as they pay tribute to their friend (and, in some cases, teacher) owes a lot to Jeff’s ability to go wherever the moment demands, both in terms of groove and dynamics.