Original Album Series (5-CD Box Set)

Probably the most influential pianist in jazz, Bill Evans has left his mark on the likes of Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea and Brad Mehldau. The pianist on Miles Davis’ quintessential 1959 album "Kind of Blue" and a key figure in the development of jazz piano, Bill Evans was a pioneer in multi-track jazz recording, a key player in the rise of modal jazz, and a multiple Grammy Award winner.

Covering the later part of his life, from the Warner Bros and Elektra studio and live recordings, here are five gems in one pack.

Tracklisting:

CD 1 · New Conversations (1978)
Originally released as Warner Bros. BSK 3177

01. Song for Helen 7:43
02. Nobody Else But Me 4:33
03. Maxine 4:33
04. For Nenette 7:16
05. I Love My Wife 6:39
06. Remembering the Rain 4:24
07. After You 3:35
08. Reflections in D 7:00


CD 2 · Affinity, with Toots Thielemans (1978)
Originally released as Warner Bros. BSK 3293

01. I Do It for Your Love 7:16
02. Sno'peas 5:51
03. This Is All I Ask 4:14
04. Days of Wine and Roses 6:40
05. Jesus' Last Ballad 5:52
06. Tomato Kiss 5:17
07. The Other Side of Midnight (Noelle's Theme) 3:17
08. Blue in Green 4:09
09. Body and Soul 6:15


CD 3 · You Must Believe in Spring (1981)
Originally released as Warner Bros. HS 3504

01. B Minor Waltz (For Elaine) 3:20
02. You Must Believe in Spring 5:47
03. Gary's Theme 4:23
04. We Will Meet Again (For Harry) 4:07
05. The Peacocks 6:05
06. Sometime Ago 4:40
07. Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless) 5:55


CD 4 · The Paris Concert, Edition One (1983)
Originally released as Elektra Musician 60164

01. I Do It for Your Love 6:17
02. Quiet Now 5:54
03. Noelle's Theme 4:19 
04. My Romance 9:15 
05. I Love's You Porgy 7:02
06. Up With the Lark 6:39
07. All Mine (Minha) 4:03
08. Beautiful Love 9:22
09. Excerpts of a conversation between Bill and Harry Evans 1:44


CD 4 · The Paris Concert, Edition Two (1984)
Originally released as Elektra Musician 60311

01. Re: Person I Knew 5:01
02. Gary's Theme 5:12
03. Letter to Evan 4:34
04. 34 Skidoo 6:30
05. Laurie 7:50
06. Nardis 16:58


Personnel on New Conversations:
Bill Evans (piano solos).
Recorded at Columbia 30th St. Studio, New York, January 26, 27, 28, and 30, February 13, 14, 15, and 16, 1978

Personnel on Affinity:
Bill Evans (piano, electric piano), Toots Thielemans (harmonica), Larry Schneider (flute), Marc Johnson (bass), Eliot Zigmund (drums).
Recorded at Columbia Studios, New York, October 30 to November 2, 1978

Personnel on You Must Believe in Spring:
Bill Evans (piano), Eddie Gomez (bass), Eliot Zigmund (drums).
Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, August 23, August 25, 1977

Personnel on The Paris Concert, Edition One & Two:
Bill Evans (piano), Marc Johnson (bass), Joe LaBarbera (drums).
Recorded by Radio France at l'Espace Cardin in Paris, France on November 26, 1979
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Review:

After a somewhat quiet and introspective period in the early 1970s, Bill Evans signed for Warner in 1977 and there then began a highly creative period resulting in some of his most consistent studio recordings in well over a decade. This culminated in the superb ‘Turn out the Stars. Complete Live at the Village Vanguard’ sessions from 1980 on Warner, re-issued on a pared down edition, or as a single CD sampler.
For those on a tight budget, the 2005 double CD ‘Anthology’ was a useful overview of Evans tenure on Warner, covering the four years between 1978 and 1980, and including examples of the two Elektra live in Paris recordings. This is now superseded by this bargain five CD set offering, part of the budget price original album series. A real favourite of this writer is ‘You must believe in spring’, which must rate among Evans’ strongest studio albums of the 1970s. Frustratingly, the three bonus cuts on the single CD re-issue are not included here, but this is a judicious selection of popular pieces all the same. Jimmy Rowles’ ‘The peacocks’ receives a suitably refined treatment while the television sound track, ‘Theme from Mash’, became a staple in Evans’ repertoire from that point onwards and never has that song sounded more beautiful than in Evans’ most capable hands. Rounding off a high quality album is a reworking of Bacharach and David’s, ‘A house is not a home’, that is impressionistic in tone and meditative in outlook. Aiding and abetting Evans were bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Elliot Zigmund.

The third instalment of Evans performing a solo recording, effectively duetting with himself is to be found on ‘New Conversations’, a riposte of kind to ‘Conversations with myself’ from 1963 on Verve. Here the pianist has a ball with himself, alternating on both acoustic and fender rhodes. Stand out interpretations include Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern’s, ‘Nobody else but me’ and a cover of Duke Ellington’s ‘Reflections in ‘D”. As one might expect with Evans, the touch is exquisite throughout. Jazz and the harmonica are not immediately connected to one another, but then Belgian musician Toots Thielemans was an out of the norm individual and the duet album with Evans, ‘Affinity’ is surprisingly good and the two blend with a natural empathy developing. This album is notable for the first appearance and rendition of ‘Do it for love’, the Paul Simon composition while in a more traditional songbook vein, the ballad, ‘Body and Soul’ receives a sumptuous interpretation from the pair. Long-time fans of Bill Evans will be wondering where the excellent ‘We will meet again’ album from August 1979 is and the truth is that Warner have seen fit to exclude it from this anthology which is a major disappointment. All the more so because it afforded the listener the rare opportunity to hear Bill Evans in a larger ensemble setting, with that most sensitive of trumpeters Tom Harrell and tenor saxophonist Larry Schneider, Marc Johnson and Elliot Zigmund making up the quintet. This is an oversight and the listener is very much the poorer for not being able to hear the album.

Of interest to fans of live Bill Evans performances are the two Elektra albums, recorded at the French national radio studios in Paris. Evans had finally found a trio that was, if not the exact equal of the superlative 1961 trio, then could compare favourably with that formation. Bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe La Barbara collectively reached a degree of intensity that has seldom been rivalled since, and this was unquestionably a precursor to the ‘Turn out the Stars’ recordings. The first volume is slightly the stronger, but both have to be heard in their entirety.

While this may not necessarily be the first, or only place to search for the beginning of a Bill Evans collection, the three studio albums and two live recordings nonetheless represent an accurate summation of Evans in the late 1970s and already hint at the creative peak he was about to achieve with his final Village Vanguard performances of 1980. Evans would tragically pass away later in that year at the age of just fifty-one. His departure was an absolute travesty and musical fans were deprived of what could have been an extend new golden era in his musical career [...]

Tim Stenhouse
http://ukvibe.org