Which album would you recommend first, and why?
Sunday at the Village Vanguard
Waltz for Debby
Thanks,
Lee
Sunday at the Village Vanguard
Waltz for Debby
Thanks,
Lee
Bill Evans
- Thread starter RBFC
- Start date
I can't think of a reason to pick one over the other. Everyone should have both. If you don't need an audiophile pressing, look into Complete Village Vanguard Recordings 1961 (which actually is pretty good sounding).
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Village-Vanguard-Recordings-1961/dp/B000AMJEKA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1290560655&sr=8-3
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Village-Vanguard-Recordings-1961/dp/B000AMJEKA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1290560655&sr=8-3
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Great CDs! And do not return them for replacement after hearing the gap of a few seconds in Gloria's step (CD1) - it is part of the CD. I almost did it after cleaning and playing the track several times ...
Lee, when it comes to Bill Evans, the answer as to which album to buy is: Yes.
His music is so good I wound up getting this 12 album set:
If you're interested, PM me your address and I'll take care of you.
His music is so good I wound up getting this 12 album set:
If you're interested, PM me your address and I'll take care of you.
An even better answer. Then you need to search out the stuff Evans has done supporting other artists. He has done extensive work with Miles, Cannonball, Chet Baker. In a few cases, the band was Bill's, featuring the horn player, so they are as much Bill Evans' albums as anything under his name. He is arguably the most influential pianist in modern jazz.
If you haven't yet discovered allaboutjazz.com, it's a great place to wander around, reading and listening and discovering what you need to try next.
Tim
I truly appreciate all the info. I spent the majority of my audiophile life collecting classical music, and am still an infant when it comes to knowledge and exposure with jazz.
Lee
Lee
Lee, the best way to discover jazz and have a blast doing it is to follow the trails left by players. For example, if you started, as so many do, with Miles' "Kind of Blue," you'll find Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly, Paul Chambers, Wynton Kelly and Jimmy Cobb. Follow the trails of those sidemen to others they played with and you'll discover guys like Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter who will lead you to guys like Ron Carter and Joe Zawinul and on and on. Jazz is unique in that typically, "bands" do not stay together for more than a few years. Players come and go and interact on a very broad stage where composition is usually just a framework, leadership is typically only broad guidance, and the creation of the music is the performance event.
The opportunity for discovery, on the part of the listener, is extremely rich. You could spend the rest of your life discovering jazz and never get past the 60s! Enjoy.
Tim
Oh, picking a favorite Bill Evans album is like choosing a favorite dessert
Duet, trio, quartet or more
Well, I wanted to start somewhere. If it really speaks to me, then I'd go on to amass more of his oeuvre. If not one of the aforementioned albums, I'm open to suggestions.
Lee
Lee
Well, I wanted to start somewhere. If it really speaks to me, then I'd go on to amass more of his oeuvre. If not one of the aforementioned albums, I'm open to suggestions.
Steve, the other boys are making fun of me! Wahhhh!
Lee
Steve, the other boys are making fun of me! Wahhhh!
Lee
I'd recommend you start with this compilation.
Bill Evans Plays for Lovers
1 When I Fall in Love 4:55
2 Haunted Heart 3:28
3 Spring Is Here 5:07
4 Blue in Green 5:24
5 Easy Living 3:53
6 Polka Dots and Moonbeams 5:02
7 Easy to Love 4:42
8 I Wish I Knew 4:42
9 Young and Foolish 5:53
10 Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?) 5:06
11 My Foolish Heart 4:55
Editorial Reviews
Concord counters 2005's Bill Evans for Lovers on Verve with this ballad collection, Bill Evans Plays for Lovers, from the pianist's late 1950s and early 1960s Riverside catalog. While there isn't anything here especially for devoted fans, who more than likely have all of this material a couple of times over, it's a great introduction to Evans for the novice. These nine cuts offer a fine retrospective of the pianist's trademark ballad style. Six tracks feature Evans in his classic trio with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian, and the rest showcase him in the company of bassists like Chuck Israels, Sam Jones, and Teddy Kotick, while Philly Joe Jones makes an appearance on the closer, "Young and Foolish." It's in the music made with LaFaro, though, that Evans reveals himself deeply. His then-controversial classicism -- which brought the shades and chord voicings of everyone from Debussy and Ravel to Erik Satie and Darius Milhaud to the jazz idiom -- are still revelatory in what they bring to the gentle, swinging introspection of tunes like "Haunted Heart," "Spring Is Here," "Blue in Green," and "I Wish I Knew." For the price, this set can't really be beat. And for those seasoned listeners who are looking for a prime ballad compilation, this one fits the bill nicely.
Well with so many to choose from, my first two choices would be the two live on site recordings. But I'm a softee for his first Fantasy release with Tony Bennett. The performances show the meticulous preparation of Evans.
Lee, I'd like to weigh in on your Bill Evans question. I have listened to, recorded and produced jazz since the 1960s. The best Bill Evans is Portrait in Jazz and the Live At the Village Vanguard recordings (which is what Waltz for Debbie is taken from). Portrait in Jazz has the ultimate in improvisation by Bill. His renditions of What Is This Thing Called Love and Autumn Leaves are stunning breakthroughs and stand as classic performances. He never improvised better. The performances on Portrait in Jazz were a bombshell at the time which affected many musicians who heard it. That is not only because of Bill's incredible harmonic concepts and lack of cliche, but the trio working together as one cohesive unit rather than supporting casts --such as the bass in the old days where it walked underneath other players. Here the amazing Scoot Lafaro redefines what a bass can do in such a setting. Later of course the trio recorded at the Village Vanguard, their last recording as a group, and not only was it a very natural recording, the playing is amazing for its general tone, group interaction (again) and the improvisation. So if you have these two Bill Evans performances on CD or vinyl you have the absolute height of his work and his trio. After that you can get Explorations which completes most of the music by the trio that exists. If you would like a few other historic performances which are also a good introduction to jazz I'd be happy to list a few others. But you can't start off much better with Bill Evans and then Miles such as Kind of Blue and the Live 1964 My Funny Valentine/Four and More concert. Jonathan
Jonathan:
Problem with PIJ is that it's a defective recording. There's a high pitched whistle (for lack of a better term) on every cut on the album. Have heard it on all vinyl and CD releases and the better the system, the more annoying it is
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