Paul Hecht and Kat Sherman duo

Pianist Paul Hecht returns to Jazz Central with a duo performance featuring vocalist Kat Sherman.

Sherman and Hecht work to create unusual set lists that pull from their wide-ranging musical interests

and experience, and exploit the flexibility of the duo format. Expect to hear songs and arrangements

inspired by artists from Anita O’Day and Nancy Wilson, to Theo Bleckmann and Cécile McLoren Salvant,

as well as songs drawn from popular or classical genres.

Hecht first appeared at Jazz Central last year with a crack trio featuring Graydon Peterson on bass and

Pete James Johnson on drums (that group will return to Jazz Central on April 19). Hecht performs

regularly throughout the Midwest, with groups based in Chicago and Eau Claire, WI. Hecht’s background

is unusual: he had a career as an English professor before moving into music full-time in 2020. Hecht’s

book about English poetry at the end of the sixteenth century, What Rosalind Likes, was published in

2022 by Oxford University Press. He continues to write on various subject, mostly musical, on his

Substack, ZLR. A first recording of his original compositions, Pyrography, will be released later this year,

featuring his Chicago trio, with Gustavo Cortiñas on drums and Ben Dillinger on bass, and with James

Davis appearing as a special guest on trumpet.

Vocalist Kat Sherman has performed in a diverse and dynamic array of settings across the Midwest for

more than two decades, in genres from rock to folk to musical theatre and beyond. Classically trained,

and a beloved educator, Sherman maintains a thriving private studio in Eau Claire, WI. Sherman’s

interest in jazz and improvised music has led her to form a quartet, Kat and the Hats, as well as a duo

with Hecht, which has been performing regularly since 2022. This is her first performance at Jazz

Central.