After 9 months of Ellington, which I loved, it’s nice to head to small-group-ville. Here are a bunch of Bill Evans records:
The Complete Riverside Sessions – Ok, ok, so this is actually a CD boxed-set, but hey, the box is record-shaped, so isn’t that close enough? The first sessions, with Teddy Kotick and Paul Motian are so swingin! “Five” has always been a favorite, and “Conception.” “No Cover, No Minimum” has an amazing use of diminished lines. On “Minority,” from the 2nd session (w/Sam Jones and Philly Joe Jones), I would have guessed that Evans is actually Lennie Tristano. And from the same session, “Oleo” is just great. Philly Joe plays dotted quarters for much of the A sections, and when he finally comes in with four, POW! The third session brings in Paul Chambers, and even though I love Sam Jones, I feel super happy with these amazing bass solos! Evans’ personality changes dramatically at the end of those Paul Chambers sessions. Towards the end of them, it almost sounds – almost – like he’s bored. Then, the great Bill Evans Trio with Paul Motian and Scott LaFaro happens, and Evans sounds positively giddy. The next dates are with Cannonball Adderley; after the more abstract Evans Trio dates, these totally swinging sessions are a, well, not quite a relief; they are just so great and Cannonball is so amazing that you can’t help but feel happy when you hear this. I should adore the Scott LaFaro sessions, and I do, but I prefer the Chuck Israels sessions for some musical reasons. The band seems to have calmed down on those recordings and are playing musically together, instead of the more simultaneous-exploration of the LaFaro trio. I know that sounds ridiculous, but hey… And the big find for me here are the Ron Carter sessions, which I love and have listened to a bunch of times on this go-around. I’ll be learning more from those dates, for sure.
Bill Evans Album – He sounds…bored? Great tunes, great band, but not so on it here.
JazzHaus – And they sound stressed out! One review (Scott Yanow) talks about the mellowness, but wow, they are so stressed out on the first side. Just one rushing, too fast tempo after another…played brilliantly, of course, but still.
Affinity – Wow. I love this album. This has the de facto version of “The Days of Wine and Roses” if you live in Boston.
Living Time – And now, the record I have been looking most forward to hearing. This is a collaboration between Bill Evans and George Russell, whose music I love, and who I was blessed to study with and play in student bands run by when I was at New England Conservatory of Music. It’s a ridiculously NEC record, if you take a close look at the personnel. What an INCREDIBLE album. Must hear. But, UPDATE, there has been something bothering me about this record since I first heard it, and now, I think I know what the problem is: it’s the beat. The youngsters on this record – Marc Johnson, Larry Schneider, and to some degree, Eliot Zigmund (whose playing I love) – they place the beat in a very different location than what Bill Evans and Toots Thielmans play. What that means is a slightly discombobulated feeling in the groove. Doesn’t mean it isn’t great, or that the record is less awesome, but that thing that has been bothering me: that’s it.
Best, R.