Customer Reviews

Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra

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"The Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra" was one of the first recordings I ever heard...EVER. My Mon used to play the LP while she was carrying me so I really do mean first. With that in mind it has never been far from my CD player for as long as I can remember. From all reports this was a troubled recording session with the arranger and conductor of record, Claus Ogerman having trouble controlling all the elements specifically the pick up orchestra and vocal soloist. Sometimes great things come out of great conflict to paraphrase an old saying. Because, despite all of this this is one of the most glorious recordings ever produced. The Ogerman arrangements are lush and beautiful to the point of distraction. Evans chose the perfect composers to compliment his style and that of his trio. Listen to his rendition of Faure's Pavane or Granados' Granadas. And Ogerman and Evans have also composed two of the tracks themselves. Gorgeous. Lie back on your sofa, turn the volume up, open a bottle of Pinot Noir and let this music take you away.

Easily one of the most daring ventures in crossover jazz, this recording was always one of Bill's favorites. Though not without is failings, it is nontheless a brilliant meeting of the minds between Claus Ogerman and Bill Evans, with Ogerman's orchestral arrangements alone being worth the price of the C.D. The trio is swinging and interacting well, although (probably due to the nature of recording with a whole orchestra in a large studio) not at the level of say "The Village Vangard" sessions. Actually one of the greatest drawbacks of the CD is the recorded sound of the trio - the piano in particular. This was probably due to the nature of recording a jazz trio live alongside an orchestra. Once past these minor distractions, however, the CD is a beautiful interweaving of the classical and Jazz traditions taking some of the best elements of each and creating a new blend. Of course to purists of either tradition such an attempt is almost bound to elicit disapointment, but to those with an open mind there is so much in the way of beautiful music that the CD is a constant joy. Although not extremely well know, Evan's knowlege of the classical tradition was deep and broad, as evidenced by his (and Ogerman's) choice of material. The selections range from Bach and Chopin to Faure and Scriabin with the addition of 3 original compositions - all of which are notable for their beautiful melodies and sensative arrangements. There is not a long list of succesful or well recieved attemps to modify the classics into contemporary arrangements, but this is not to say the idea is without legitimacy. Certainly Broadway show tunes (which are the consistent staple for jazz musicians) in their modified version as recorded by say Miles Davis or John Coltrane have about as much (or perhaps even less) similarity to the original version as do these arrangenments to the classics from which they were taken. In either case, the resulting music in the hands of the masters, be they Miles, Evans, or Orgeman is a pleasure to listen to.

Dumb luck... I was given my first copy of this album in the mid-1960's 'cause the program director of a radio station I was working for "didn't play jazz."
It was "kismet." Now I have multiple CD's of Bill Evans with Symphony Orch. - one for each car, and one for home. In spite of some minor technical flaws, this is an absolutely wonderful album to relax to. The orchestral parts are lush and well brought off, and the trio's playing is exceptional. If you have one oar in jazz and another in classical, please do yourself a favor and buy this CD. "You'll thank me later..."

This recording is a gem of Bill's playing. Simple, clean lines, and a beautiful background by Claus Ogerman. I listen to this recording over and over. I was a fan of Bill Evans and Claus Ogerman before I listened to this CD. But this exceeded my expectations of the two artists.

This is an unusual Bill Evans recording, as it combines his trio with a "symphony orchestra" playing arrangements by Claus Ogerman of several "classical" themes along with two of Evans's most haunting originals: "Time Remembered" and "My Bells". Not that there's much of a classical feel to the orchestrations: apart from the Vaughan Williams/Shostakovich overtones of Ogerman's "Elegy", the orchestral music is more reminiscent of a glossy 1960s/70s film score. There's some attractive woodwind and french horn, but on some of the tracks the large string section might be a bit too lush for some tastes. Fortunately, on most tracks the orchestra confines itself to stating the theme at the opening and in a few places playing a fairly discreet accompanying role, but generally keeping out of the way of Evans's improvisations. So the main "fusion" interest lies in what Evans does with the themes in his solos.

One of the minor oddnesses of the album is the way in which, on some tracks, the beginning of Evans's solo launches into a very different tempo and mood from the one just established in the orchestra's theme statement. Sometimes - as on Faure's Pavane - this creates a musically effective contrast; elsewhere - as on "Granados" - it leaves you feeling too sharply aware of the incongruity rather than empathy between the different musical worlds being brought together. Maybe that's partly why the most satisfying of the "classical" tracks are the Bach Sicilienne and "Blue Interlude" (on Chopin's C minor Prelude): each solo seems to grow organically out of its theme and both themes inspire Evans to some excellent improvisation. Listen, for example, to the way in which he exploits the "bluesy" aspect of the Chopin as his solo builds to its climax. Evans's own "My Bells" is another high spot of the album - an attractively nostalgic modal theme tastefully arranged for the orchestra, leading to a gently swinging solo and a rubato restatement of the theme by Evans before a wistful coda.

There's certainly a lot of absorbing, beautiful playing from the Evans trio here, including a high level of melodic invention and incomparable rhythmic subtlety from the pianist. But the appeal of the album will largely depend on what you think of the orchestra's part in the proceedings. It's probably one to try before you buy.

There's nothing like having your expectations completely blown away - this recording is a revelation. I've set my cd player to repeat and listened to this cd for hours at a time. If you're looking for a fresh interpretation of jazz, look no further.

I hadn't listened to this for at least 20 years, perhaps influenced by some of the critical dismissals it's received. Musically, the criticisms are fully without merit. Bill's inimitable touch, with tones from left and right hands perfectly balanced, can be "inferred" even when the recording itself refuses to allow the piano to "sing" in its natural context, including all of the complex overtones of the instrument itself as well as the inflections provided by the acoustic space in which the instrument is placed. Instead, too often the listener has the sense of two separate enterprises--the recording of an orchestra alternating with a jazz piano trio that frequently sounds "spliced in" rather than part of an organic whole. Andre Previn is an artist who, early on, sensed the importance of allowing enough "space" between the instrument and the microphone, the piano and listener to allow for the micro-second of time it requires to capture not merely the striking of the string but its complete vibration. The difference can be heard on practically any of his recordings since the early sixties.

No pianist possessed a more satisfying touch than Evans. On the softest passages there's never the sense that he's simply "holding back," flittering and glossing over the keys to gain a pianissimo effect. He plays deep into the keys, whether during a loud or a soft passage. All the more reason that the otherwise near-flawless music on this recording deserved closer attention to the miking and mixing of the piano. Another pianist, who is frequently compared with Evans, expends copious verbiage on the intricacies of piano tone (even suggesting that lunar phases must be in the right alignment for optimal recording of the piano), yet his hand position and posture at the piano (often in a position closer to "standing" than sitting) all but ensure that the lyricism of which this "percussive" instrument is capable has little to no chance of being realized and that the left hand, especially, will not be in a position to match the sonorities extracted by the right hand.

The importance of balance, or the equal distribution of weight through shoulder leverage and precise synchronization of all ten fingers, is especially crucial when Evans moves from sparse, delicate voicings and thin textures to block-chorded passages and thicker textures as in the first number, based on a theme by Granados. A listener can only imagine what the sound would be to someone sitting a couple of rows back at a concert featuring the Bill Evans Trio surrounded by a symphony orchestra. Sadly, due to engineers' obsession with using many tracks and microphones, outfitting all musicians with headphones, of doing everything to acquire some unearned "power" of being able to doctor and reorchestrate any recording--a slider up here, a slider down there--the result, though no doubt viewed as an "enhancement" of the sound, is two-dimensional and a far cry from the authentic experience. It would appear that the goal on this recording was to ensure that every instrument would be equally audible and clear--a sure recipe for a mechanical "concoction" that, even if executed to perfection, would have no chance of being a result greater than the sum of its many individual parts and pieces.

Try your best to imagine the sound of Bill's piano while seated 50 feet away from it, allowing its tones to resonate even as the orchestra picks up a theme and, then, the sound of the flute after Bill's solo on "My Bells." In the post-processing of the recording, that flute's note has been "spiked" to the point of sounding loud and practically assaultive whereas Ogerman's intention undoubtedly was to make it sustain, if only momentarily, a hint of the spell of Bill's piano solo. That's not to say that both Evans and Ogerman are less than masterful on a project with the potential to be a sublime collaborative endeavor. It's just that, perhaps more than with similar endeavors, the full appreciation of the final musical experience requires that the listener be an active, imaginative participant.

[The only version of "My Bells" on record that strikes me as worthy of its composer's conception is that by pianist Jack Reilly on his disc "Live at Maybeck Recital Hall" (Unichrome Records 2009)], available (if at all) on his website.]