Customer Reviews

Paris Concert 1

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There's a misleading myth about Bill Evans that seems to be gaining acceptance, if the increasing references to his drug problem are any indication. The necessary inference is that Evans' genius and career fall within the familiar patterns of the tragic romantic artist--a burst of youthful, inspired creativity followed by gradual decline and eventual disrepair.

Nothing could be further from the truth, as these recordings from a late 1979 Paris concert should make abundantly clear. In fact, they are every bit as impressive as the celebrated Vanguard recordings with LaFaro and Motion in 1961. Evans is one of those rare artists who experienced an unparallelled surge of creative energy and passionate lyricism in his so-called autumnal period, which makes these late sessions as essential as the early Vanguard ones.

Compare his performance here of "I Loves You Porgy" with his Vanguard performance (or any intermediate recording) of the same tune. It's every bit as nuanced and fresh as the early recordings yet possesses a boldness and confidence not always present in the earlier work. One thing Bill Evans was NOT about was "ego". Unlike many of the younger, heavily promoted pianist/keyboard players he influenced, Bill did not require grunts and groans, physical contortions, funny clothes, production special effects, etc., to make his musical statement. In fact, he preferred not to have the spotlight on himself. The lowered position of his head (or, in the 70s, his shoulder-length hair) concealed his face and, in effect, required the listener to focus only on the hands and the keys, on the music itself. And notice the size of his hands! As lean and slight as Bill appeared in the 50s and 60s, his hands seemed to belong to another creature--not just the length of the fingers but their thick diameter and sheer bulk. He had but to stroke the keys to extract from a grand piano the purist, fullest, most vibrantly warm sounds it was capable of producing.

More than any other major musician, Evans' aesthetic was the counterpart to that of John Keats, whose poetic credo of "negative capability," association of joy and sorrow, and equation of beauty and truth ("Truth is beauty") resulted in some of the purest poetry in the English language. But because of his virtual self-effacement, Bill was especially susceptible to the ready criticism of a Scottie LaFaro, who could be a punishing task-master in his insistence on perfection. Bill not only expanded the bass-player's role but developed a deference that could result in the bass player practically supplanting the pianist as the primary solo voice! This unselfishness soon became habit, leading to a certain unassertive sameness in many of his mid-career recordings. ("The Tokyo Concert" I'd single out as an example of the trio's tedious and tepid virtuosity--much busy-ness but little action or swing.) With the final trio of Marc Johnson and Joe La Barbera, however, Bill assumed, along with an appreciation of his companions, a mentor's responsibility for them. On the Paris Concert he's a teacher/master as much as a student, and the result is perhaps the most satisfying trio performance of his entire career. He's not merely drawing upon fresh blood as a source of inspiration but using his experience to guide his proteges while bringing his own instrument into the prominence it deserves.

Good learners become teachers, but in that role remain forever learners themselves. In one of his very last recordings, Evans manifests the fruits of a lifetime of learning yet produces music that registers freshness and discovery in each passing note.

Why this recording and it's companion recording were out of print for so long is a mystery. Evans always chose his bandmembers well. Marc Johnson and Joe La Barbera are so in tune to Evans and he with them that you could see that had Evans lived (he passed away not long after these sessions), he would again have one of the great trios. Evans was at his very best on this recording. There is so much for the heart and the mind to feast on this recording. Here you you can hear how strong his influence was on the next generation of pianists. "All Mine", "Beautiful Love", "Noelle's Theme" exhibit the art of the ballad at it's finest. His ballads never seem to be just that, they are mmore. They unravel before you. They meander out and back again and you are thankful for the aside. In this spare trio environment there is a lushness at times. I Loves You Porgy" is given a new reading. Each artist is given solo space. Each makes effective use of their solo space. Marc Johnson is brilliant on this recording. Melodic virtuosity with a fine sense of swing. I could not think of a better example of his work to recommend him than this. Since then he's gone on to produce a helluva body of work. These CD's (Editions One & Two) should have been cast in gold

I play the piano myself and I probably own almost every Bill Evans CD that is avaialable. The two Paris concerts are in my opinion his two best albums. In these concerts, Bill Evans captures some of the old spirit of the early Scott LaFarro recordings. However, I think these actually exceed them in in terms of creative improvisation, certainly sound quality and depth. This recording represents a very mature Evans at the height of his ability.

Supreme late Evans - Marc Johnson's spacious, suspended accompaniment drives this trio with a rare intensity. His extraordinary interplay with Zigmund with or without Evans sometimes dazzles in polyrhythms but also and always satisfies emotionally.
Evans' treatment of Francis Hime's "Minha" has to be one of the tenderest piano ballads ever to be recorded.

I've been listening to Bill Evans since 1964, when he was still recording his great sets with Riverside. The Paris Concert stunned me. This trio -- Marc Johnson on bass and Joe La Barbara on drums -- bears favorable comparison to the Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian trio. The ensemble playing is quite nearly perfect. Evans lifts himself throughout. The three of them play a great book brilliantly. I'm so glad I stumbled on to this set.

It's difficult to imagine what's beyond perfection. Just when we thought Bill Evans achieved his maximum on the 70's trio with Eddie Gomez, it's incredible to discover that Bill Evans was playing Better than ever near to his premature death.

In 1979 and 1980, we can distinguish clearly a change on his style. He was about to change everything ( I wish he had lived 5 years more at least )...re-harmonizing old themes he played hundreds of times, playing with more dareness, at the full risk, almost playing wrong notes, but bringing the best ideas I have ever listened on him.
Bill was and still is the great Master of Jazz piano. Listening to Bill is a travel to memories of better times, and magical sound. And he plays here with a perfect touch and sonority. He approaches to some classical pieces also.
Definetely, you can't miss these 2 albuns.

Dihelson mendonça - jazz pianist.

I'm so thrilled to discover this recording is out on CD as I've worn out my cassette. Brilliant playing, group interaction...the sense of urgency in this performance as Bill neared the end of his life his heart-rending.
I never write reviews but this is one of my favorite albums of all time.

This album by "the last trio" - with Marc Johnson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums - was recorded in 1979, the year before Evans's death. He came to feel that this trio had some of the qualities of the great "first trio" with Scott La Faro and Paul Motian. However, one of the immediately striking differences from that first trio is Evans's more energetic, uninhibited approach to the material. Although he had, in his own words, "always had good facility" as a pianist, it was, in his earlier work, something he often seemed to want to conceal rather than display. Perhaps this was partly a desire to place technique at the service of the music rather than to show it off for its own sake, perhaps partly a reflection of his modest, self-critical nature. But in his work with this last trio he seems to revel in his "facility" almost as much as in his musical inventiveness, and this shows itself not only in the vigorous, exuberant playing in the faster numbers but also in the more probing, exploratory, virtuosic style he employs in slower pieces such as "Quiet Now", "I Love You Porgy" and "Minha (All Mine)" - there are moments on the latter solo piano feature when you could be forgiven for thinking you are listening to a Rachmaninov prelude.

So although there are some familiar Evans vehicles here, they show a freshness of treatment that makes them very different from earlier versions, full of new discovery and a freer, more adventurous approach to the tunes and their chord sequences. Along with this musical assertiveness there is also an element of crowd-pleasing in the performance. "My Romance" is a good example: it begins with a teasing long introduction which gives few clues as to the tune which is to follow and which builds dramatically until the tension is finally released with the theme statement, followed by a robust, searching improvisation. It then becomes a vehicle for some strong solos from bass and drums. The `keep them guessing' intro is a trick which Errol Garner liked to play on his audiences and which Keith Jarrett has sometimes adopted with his "Standards" trio, but it's interesting to hear it exploited by a pianist like Evans not previously noted for dramatic gestures or extrovert showmanship. He also does it on "Beautiful Love" and again - on the companion album, `The Paris Concert: Edition Two' - on "Nardis".

The more subtle, gentle sides of his musical persona, along with the familiar "singing" qualities in his playing, are still in evidence in the ballads, perhaps most notably in a beautiful reading of Paul Simon's "I Do It For Your Love". The predominant feeling you get from this album is of a great musician, newly inspired, pushing himself - and being pushed by his younger accompanists - through a new phase of creative development in his music. It's still sad to contemplate that it was to end too soon, but some consolation that the Evans catalogue has several other recordings of the work of that final year which, like this one, captured the pianist and the trio in such inspired form. One of these is `Edition Two' of this concert, which is equally highly recommended.

This two edition concert set features Bill Evans with his "second greatest" trio, Marc Johnson and Joe LaBarbera, playing standards, including several that Evans recorded before. The sound is a surprise - the piano sounds vivid and gorgeous and Evans has fun with its low register growl. Jazz purists may not like the modern close-mic'ed sound - it's a bit sterile compared to traditional recordings. The bass also sounds very modern - the tone sings out in all registers, with only enough click and boxiness to prove that it is not a fretless bass guitar. If you like a detailed, modern sound, it's a great combination; if you prefer old-school sound shaped by a real venue, you may hate it.

Evans' solo work dominates; the three-way Evans/LaFaro/Motian dance only happens occasionally. The My Romance trio brings back the "good old days" and the piano/bass duet on Up with the Lark is a joy, but the "Bill Evans" label on the CD is more accurate than "Bill Evans Trio" would be. Johnson takes full advantage of his instrument's singing quality and range (I wish that LaFaro had this sound so I could hear him better), and leave you wanting more. LaBarbera plays effectively like Motian at his most subdued, Philly Joe Jones at his most extroverted, and everywhere in between. There's none of the rhythmic tug-of-war between piano and drums like in Montreux; everyone's locked in.

If you are not put off by busy arrangements and urgent tempos, and you don't require a giant helping of Village Vanguard-style interplay, the playing on this CD should satisfy your need for more Bill Evans.

This is the first volume of what was originally a two record set released after Evan's untimely death in 1980. Both volumes document Bill's last working trio, which he compared favorably to his "classic" trio with Scott LaFaro and Bill Motion. Both volumes are essential. The performances are crisp, well recorded and remastered, and briskling with a quality that is intoxicating to the ear. As a single representation of the final trio at work, this might be the best, IMHO. Highly recommended.