Fred Hersch has got to be one of the most cerebral pianists in jazz. At Kilbourn Hall Sunday evening he played originals and standards in a manner that suggested a deep analysis of each tune's structure and harmony. His trio, with†John Heberton bass and Nasheet Waits on drums, played with the precision of a classical ensemble. In fact, when they performed Thelonious Monk's "Work," it came off as a playful contemporary classical piece.

Hersch played several songs from his new album, "Night & The Music," including a wonderful take on Irving Berlin's "How Deep is the Ocean." Waits was especially effective on this tune,† with his brushes nicely evoking waves rolling in.

Hersch also played the fittingly poetic and delicate "At the Close of the Day," an instrumental part of his "Leaves of Grass" suite. (In 2005 he set Walt Whitman's poetry to music.)

I don't mean to imply anything negative about Gress and Waits, who were both excellent, but my favorite performance of the evening occurred when Hersch came back for an encore alone. He sat down at the piano and played an absolutely gorgeous version of Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo."

Benny Golson attracted a huge crowd for his first show at Harro East. The legendary saxophonist/composer treated the audience to a narration of key events in his musical life illustrated occasionally by songs. Two funny stories involving growing up and performing with John Coltrane in Philadelphia led to a performance of Coltrane's "Mr. P.C." A sad story about the death of trumpet great Clifford Brown was followed by Golson's own beautiful tune, "I Remember Clifford."

With all of the storytelling, Golson played only five songs during the set. I felt a bit shortchanged --- I especially wanted to hear my favorite of his compositions, "Whisper Not." But he is, after all, in his late 70s and probably wanted to preserve some energy for his second set.

His quartet featured three superb musicians: pianist Antonio Ciacca, bassist Dennis Irwin, and local drummer Mike Melito. All three of them took wonderful solos. Golson still plays beautifully, occasionally adding some of Coltrane's sheets-of-sound technique to his own full-bodied sound.†

On Monday I plan to check out the great young pianist, Eldar. And, two years ago Frank De Blase raved about Mamadou Diabate with such passion that I felt like I'd missed the best act of the festival, so this time I will try to see him.