Elegy for Bill Evans [Import, Original recording remastered]

Richie Beirach | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 20, 2000)
• Original Release Date: 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Polys
• ASIN: B00005AA8L
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,003,290 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. In Your Own Sweet Way

2. Blue In Green

3. Solar

4. Spring Is Here

5. Peace Piece

6. Nardis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An original voice..., January 11, 2002

By 

"groovecake" (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elegy for Bill Evans (Audio CD)

This is, in my opinion, the definitive Richie Beirach album. A tribute to Bill Evans, this album presents Beirach's unique sound over six tunes Evans performed regularly.

Beirach's phrasing and melodic ideas are truly original and he is supported strongly by Al Foster and George Mraz. This record lead me to investigate Beirach's vast body of work with Dave Liebman, et al. Richie's playing is alternately beautiful and dark with complex harmonic movements and improvisations. The great thing is to hear how Richie inserts his style into standard compositions.

Get this. It's worth the money.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Evans connection, May 6, 2004

By 

Brian Whistler (Forestville, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Elegy for Bill Evans (Audio CD)

While there may be other gifted pianists out there who aspire towards the flame by which Evans legacy burns so brightly,it may very well be Richie Beirach who most deserves to be the keeper of the Evans torch.

True, there are those whose playing superficially seems closer to the Evans world; Andy Laverne or the late Michel Petrucianni quickly come to mind. Yet it was Beirach who most successfully took the Evans language and incorporated it into his own musical vision, which seem to include Bartok and Mompou as much as Evans and Monk. Beirach has the touch, the grace and the pianistic refinement to do this music justice, as well as the artistry and intelligence to take the towering Evans legacy and metabolize it into his own musical vocabulary, where it emerges as his own authentic voice. This CD, unfortunately only available as an overpriced Japanese import is one of the most articulate and reverential testaments to the immortal beauty of Evans gifts and those of Mr Richie Beirach, probably one the most underated musicians of his generation.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth every penny, Beirach's best, January 24, 2005

By 

R. E McBride (Flyover Country) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elegy for Bill Evans (Audio CD)

I love Richie Beirach, but this is as good as it gets with him. True to the album title, these are all tunes with strong associations with Bill Evans.

With George Mraz and Al Foster filling out the trio, you'd expect it to be a good album. But it's a great album. Probably one of the few tributes to Bill Evans that is artistically on a par with Evans' own output.

In fact, the similarities between some of Evans' last live recordings and some of the vocabulary Beirach uses might seem derivative to some. But an educated ear would not mistake this for Bill Evans, and anyone familiar with Beirach's other records will recognize his own unique voice throughout. Thus, it becomes a true tribute, a virtuoso saying, basically, 'I owe it to you, Bill.'

The price tag hangs up a lot of people. While on general principles I think CDs are overpriced, it's a matter of the market not appreciating this jewel that you have to buy it as a Japanese import. There's even bilingual labeling on it, though the jacket art is a replica of the LP. (You almost need a loop to read the jacket notes on the back, an interview where Beirach discusses his personal interaction with Bill, among other things).

Also, for the audiophiles out there, this is no hatchet-job remastering. The sound is rich, true and warm. While you might not fool someone who knows Bill Evans and Richie Beirach about who was at the piano, you could probably pass it off as a Rudy Van Gelder reissue.