Customer Reviews

Piano Player

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This is one of SONY/Columbia Legacy releases that combines material on that label from a few sources: selections recorded under Bill's name in his short association with Columbia, tracks from a Dave Pike (vibes) album, one from Miles Davis' "Live at The Plaza" and an alternate "All About Rosie" from an early George Russell Orchestra setting.

There is much material here that's very strong, but Evans scholars may debate, as they have before, regarding the inclusion of some of the works-in-progress duo tracks with Eddie Gomez. According to the bassist's touching essay in the liner notes, these tracks were "recorded rehearsals" from November 1970 and were done five months before the trio of that time, with drummer Marty Morrell, would record all Evans-penned compositions for what became "The Bill Evans Album" in 1971 on Columbia (a previously unreleased "Fun Ride" from those dates is included here).

We hear John Lewis' standard"Django" in an extended outing with Evans and Gomez not yet quite settled in, as they work through various tempos, but Bill's lightning -fast chops are evident throughout. Gomez' on electric bass on "Morning Glory", by his own admission, was probably a weak experiment, especially considering his amazing prowess on the acoustic. The other tunes, including "Comrade Conrad", "Waltz for Debby" and "T.T.T" -- all of which would appear on the upcoming Columbia release -- show Bill and Eddie in lively interplay, with Evans on the Rhodes electric piano here and there, and though just working through arrangements, they're nonetheless fair, yet incomplete and experimental representations of this period in their careers.

That being said, tthere is still interesting playing here to satisfy even non-hardcore Evans fans. A highlight is the Miles Davis "My Funny Valentine" (with just Miles and the rhythm section, sans Coltrane and Cannonball), taken from the "Jazz at the Plaza" performance in 1958, and hithertofore unreleased. Although a less than satisfactory recording quality gets in the way -- almost a "fake" sounding stereo spread is evident -- we get to hear 'live' Bill Evans with Miles in a intriguing intro to this well-worn standard; a staple in the Davis repertoire for years to come.

Also quite exciting is this alternate "All About Rosie" solo from George Russell's compositional suite done at a Brandeis University concert in the late 50s, which is no less stunning than the one Evans fans are quite familiar with.

Most of these other tracks are worthwhile --and for Evans completists, and perhaps jazz historians, all the more interesting.

The music collected here spans 14 years of Bill Evans' career, including a couple of occasions as a sideman. It's not a "best of" album, since eight of the 11 tracks were unreleased prior to this 1998 compilation. The only theme that can be ascribed to the album - reinforced by the liner notes of producer Orrin Keepnews - is "here's a bunch of great Bill Evans recordings we found."
That's not to say this CD isn't well worth having, especially at the low price listed as of this writing. Evans fans will get six tracks of duets with bassist Eddie Gomez, recorded in 1970, and a trio version of "Fun Ride" that includes Gomez, from 1971. (Gomez contributed a heartfelt essay about his time with Evans to the informative booklet insert.) There are also two tunes with Evans backing up vibraphonist Dave Pike in 1962, a live performance of "My Funny Valentine" with Miles Davis in 1958, and even an innovative piece by the George Russell jazz orchestra featuring a dynamic Evans solo.
Evans fans undoubtedly will enjoy this collection. The write-up on the back of the CD case says that this album is "also a first-rate introduction" to the work of Bill Evans. Whether that's true or not will depend on the listener. A good alternative introduction is Ultimate Bill Evans.

If you love 'The Bill Evans Album' then this is worth a complement collection of that. You will never hear the real''Fun ride'' (unreleased song in 'The Bill Evans album''), but only on this album.

This album is a good introduction to Bill Evans, and focuses a lot more on Bill Evans than his trio or his other work with other artists.

However, I would not really recommend this CD. The selection of tracks seems loose-knit and somewhat unbalanced. The two tracks with vibraphonist Dave Pike could have been omitted, they really are the low point of this disc. This, plus the quantity of tracks featuring Bill Evans and Eddie Gomez makes me wonder what actually was the purpose of this CD? Is it an intro to Bill Evans work, or is it just a random collection of tracks, some previsouly unreleased, some not?