Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard

This live recording by the Bill Evans Trio at the Village Vanguard on June 25, 1961, marked the end of one of the most sublime instrumental combinations in jazz history when bassist Scott LaFaro died in a car accident 10 days later. This unit is underdocumented because Evans, a notorious perfectionist, was reluctant to record. The interchange between Evans on piano, LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums is balletic in its balance of emotional beauty and technical precision. Multiple takes of "Gloria's Step," "Alice in Wonderland," "All of You," and "Jade Visions" show how the invention these players brought to each performance makes repeated material sound like movements in a suite. --John Swenson Amazon.com essential recording

Essential jazz, essential music

Recorded in June, 1961 this album set at that time the standard for the piano-bass-drums jazz trio - a standard that has still not been surpassed. It is essential to any collection of jazz, or music for that matter. May 3, 2008

Attitude

What intrigues me about the piano playing of Bill Evans is that he brought a hard driving attitude to classical forms. I can't imagine Evans' playing ever sounding out-dated. On this album, his rendition of Miles Davis' Solar can only be described as "Way out there." October 29, 2007

Yes, it's that special

I read a lot about this, and thought it couldn't be that good. It is. "Waltz for Debby" is even finer. This was Genius at work. January 11, 2007

Wonderful

Anything Bill Evans plays is wonderful! I love his style of playing. This music is so calming. January 10, 2007

Quietly Powerful

Sometimes I listen to this recording and I think to myself, "Why did I stop taking piano lessons at seven years old?" But I am glad that some little boys continued with their lessons; notably Bill Evans.

Bill Evans is so understated...so refined...so elegant that some may think he doesn't have an edge. Not true. His edge is refinement. His playing is never heavy handed, it never overtakes the musical situation, it is so subtle and yet so powerful that you just want more and more...

I also like the different version of each song. It's funnny how a little twist here and a little there can change the whole feel of a song. I remember how my mother, a classically trained pianist, would rehearse for weeks on end on a certain piece of music. She'd play the piece note for note, chord for chord according to what the sheet music had laid down, and then she would do something really interesting after she had learned the piece, she'd throw the music away and played according to the wants and needs of her own soul.

That's the feel I get from this CD. That everyone is playing from their own soul level and yet coming together to be as one for this recording. It's a very powerful recording and it's perfect for early morning writing....mmm...just like what I'm doing now.

I may have given up the piano, but I'm glad I still play at another kind of keyboard.

Peace & Blessings

October 12, 2006

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