Today's remedy features the great jazz pianist Bill Evans, whom some of you heard last week playing with Miles Davis in 1958 (for example, on On Green Dolphin Street). Evans needs no introduction for those who know his music, and perhaps some of you who don't will get to know it after listening to this wonderful set. Enjoy.
- Elsa — Bill Evans Trio, part 1 of a live program recorded in March, 1965 (here's the whole thing)
- Days Of Wine And Roses — recorded live at the Village Vanguard, June, 1980
- Some Day My Prince Will Come — from the trio album Portrait In Jazz, 1959
- Piano Jazz session — part 1 of Bill's appearance on Piano Jazz with Marion McPartland (1979)
- Waltz For Debbie — the final tune of the 1965 program
Dave, I assume you listened to the second part of that Piano Jazz clip... The duet is amazing. It has some awkward bits as they try to adjust to each other and McPartland tries to imitate Evans - then they both really, really do some amazing things.
I think you probably know about the Tony Bennett/Bill Evans albums, but in any case they are great and deserve a mention in any Bill Evans thread.
One thing I do have to say, I was thinking about what you posted last week, and I don't totally agree. Or rather, I would say there is plenty of very beautiful jazz even in the Free Jazz form, and Miles' quintet with Shorter was extremely fine. It's just that there was no unified style and often the nice stuff is right next or mixed with some noisy or weird stuff. Dave Holland's song 'Conference of the Birds' on the album by the same name is very pretty, for example. But it's not traditional, and other songs from the same album are much less melodic and "pretty".
To me, the modal stuff of the 60s is a lot better than hearing the same sort of Parkerism or Bopism that was overabundant in Jazz in the late 50s.
Posted by: adam | 02/23/2013 at 09:59 PM