Customer Reviews

Bill Evans - 19 Arrangements for Solo Piano

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a piano player and serious student of jazz. I played professionally for 11 years on a variety of instruments and I probably own every CD that Bill Evans ever made and many other pianists as well. In addition, I have studied both classic and jazz piano, so I have some real credibility in this space.

I have seen mixed reactions to this book and I believe the critical reviews are because very good pianists want the Evans transcriptions, not Bill Evans as interpreted by someone else. However, I don't believe it was the author's purpose to provide transcriptions, but rather to make the music of Bill Evans accessible to beginning-intermediate pianists.

With respect to the goal above, I think the arranger achieved his goal quite admirably. What this book contains is simplified Bill Evans compositions, but the genius here is that the "essence" of Bill's sound and spirit is still present. In my opinion, this is quite a feat particularly when limited to simple arrangements.

The musical score is easy to read, but there are no fingerings provided. This is not a big deal to me, but it might be someone else. For a better pianist, these are excellent for sight-reading purposes because some of the chord changes may really catch you by surprise. I am addressing this point to the classic painists out there with some interest in jazz.

The chords are written above the music, but I think this is not very useful or accurate. If you stick to what is written on the page, you will often conclude that the chords are misnamed. However, they might be quite close to what is in the actual transcriptions. I don't see this as a big minus because you can reharmonize the pieces and use the chord symbols as an alternate interpretation of the harmony.

If you are a more advanced jazz pianist, I think you will also enjoy this book because it provides some good material for improvisation, using different types of voicing, etc. While the arrangements are simple, they are effective and have musical punch. Sometimes less is more, even in jazz and it wouldn't hurt any pianist to see how simple ideas could be combined to make a sublime sound.

EVERY piece in this book sounds excellent. Unlike many other books of this type, it starts off as quality and sticks to the best pieces, good arrangements, etc. Frankly, I wish this arranger would do more Bill Evans arrangements. I would certainly buy them all!

I don't know if the product description changed since the posting of some of the reviews below but I knew what I was getting when I purchased this book Andy Laverne's arrangements (as it says "songs arranged by noted jazz pianist/educator Andy LaVerne[...]with performance notes on his adaptations.")

However, I am quite pleased with this book. As a beginning to intermediate pianist who loves Bill Evans and his music it's a great deal to be able to sit down and play through some of these tunes. I find the arrangements good enough for someone who either doesn't have a lot of background with improvisation or with solo chord-melody playing.

I think Andy did a good job simplifying the tunes and this book seems to serve its stated purpose well. It's not Bill's notes but I think Andy did a good job of getting these tunes pared down to a playable level by an amateur player so I appreciate his work.

The music is large and easy to read to which lends to the playability of this book.

This book is songs written by Bill Evans, arranged for solo piano by Andy Laverne, a respected player and student of Evans. Laverne sets out to serve three purposes: 1) provide solo arrangments for songs that Evans wrote but never (except one or two) recorded alone; 2) provide arrangements that mere mortals lacking Evans' reading skills and chops can play with satisfactory results; and 3) provide examples of techniques that can be used in other songs.

Laverne succeeds on all three counts. It's silly to criticize inauthentic arrangements when there are no Evans solo recordings to transcribe. The Hal Leonard transcriptions are trio arrangements that can't be played solo without substantial tweaking. The arrangements are melody lines played once through. Laverne freely states in the preface that the arrangements are simplified (I'm no great sight reader, but did not find them daunting), so the book cannot be faulted for being misleading. "Simplified" does not mean,"John Brimhall First Grade" arrangements; there are some very dense chords in places. As for techniques to study, the ones I can name off the top of my head include: upper structures, slash chords, polychords, Drop 2 voicing and cluster chords. You could teach several classes from what Laverne left IN the arrangements.

For those with intermediate piano skills that want to study Bill Evans' techniques in a fun way (as opposed to transcribing), this is a great place to start. Those with more time and ambition can combine these arrangements with the Leonard books, do their own transcriptions, or add their own improvisations. Until I find that time, this book will do nicely.

This solo book is mainly for those that want to play a watered-down version of the Evans' playing you hear in recordings. For the average pianist this is a great book to sit down and chunk out a few jazz tunes with, but for anyone that's really serious and wants a REAL transcription, forget it. These arrangements are FAR from the real deal...go for the Bill Evans Trio artist transcriptions by Hal Leonard if you want note-for-note.

The first review, above, seems typically over-the-top jazz police stuff. Andy LaVerne is a respected jazz pianist--not a star, but the real thing and a guy who gets up every morning and thinks about and plays music every day (and into the night) and has done so for many years. So there's no reason to get fanatic in disapproval, as if this were some kind of scam that had been detected.

The second review is probably fair enough--if you've got the chops for it, go for the Hal Leonard version; if you want a nice playable intermediate take on Bill's ideas--one's the average good amateur can probably pull off, then go for the preesent book, because it's well done, tasteful and may well be best book for some players.

Lots of musical variety here, from moderate to advanced difficulty. If your jazz path leads to Bill Evans, I highly recommend this book as a place to start.

This is perfect for me, an intermediate piano student of classical piano. The arrangements capture the essence of Bill Evans while still being accessible. I have started with "Waltz for Debbie". I enjoy playing it and my piano teacher enjoyed hearing it.

These arrangements are a good exposition, for those of us who haven't a clue, of how to use Eb7#9#5 and other such chords in a musical sentence. Voicing of jazz chords has been something of a mystery. There are "aha!" moments in each tune when I can finally hear that jazz sound coming from my piano, and at the same time I am playing, no less. The book is worth the price just to have an arrangement of the beautiful Peace Piece. Not especially easy arrangements for the late intermediate player, but a rewarding challenge.

"Bill Evans - 19 Arrangements for Solo Piano BY BILL EVANS"
is how this book is being advertised on Amazon -
at the least misleading, at most false advertising. The tunes are by Evans, but the notes here are Laverne's, not Bills.
thanks goodness it was only 10 bucks.