Customer Reviews

Soulgrass

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

 

 

I bought this CD as an international import before it was released to the US, so it was fairly expensive. I can say that it was easily worth every penny, and the CD has been in my car's CD changer since. I was originally intrigued by the Bela Fleck connection (I own a wide variety of Bela's CDs, both with and without the Flecktones), but found the musicianship on this album to be as outstanding as any Flecktone CD. While not groundbreaking, Evans' sax work is extremely solid, and he's surrounded himself with a wide variery of outstanding musicians. Any track that features Evans, Bela, Vic Wooten and Vinnie Colaiuta, such as "Snapdragon", is a near-automatic favorite, but I wasn't let down by any track on the CD.

Right before the CD originally came out, they did an 8-show run at Yoshi's jazz club in Oakland, CA with Evans, Bela, Vinnie, Jimmy Haslip on bass and Darol Anger on violin. I knew it would be a rare chance to catch Bela at what is probably my favorite venue in the world, so I went to both the first and last shows of the run. The first time, they were clearly still learning material--sheet music was out and the level of exploration was a little bit less than what I was expecting--which is perhaps to be naturally expected given that these five have not played with each other often (at least publicly or in the studio). The second time, the sheet music was generally gone and the show is firmly fixed in my mind as one of the best I have ever seen.

(I haven't listened to this CD, so please disregard my rating.)

Note that there were _two_ Bill Evanses who played with Miles Davis -- in fact, all of the albums in Amazon's "Customers who bought items like this also bought" list are by the _other_ Bill Evans, the great pianist who died in 1980 and who was integrally involved in the creation of Davis's classic 1959 album, Kind of Blue.

This one here is the saxophonist who first joined Miles in the 1980s. Sax Davis plays on four Miles albums -- The Man With The Horn (1981), We Want Miles (1982), Star People (1983), and Decoy (1984). Impressive, but hardly Kind of Blue.

If you're too ignorant to know the difference between Bill Evans the piano player and Bill Evans the sax player, that's YOUR problem, not the artist's. The one-star review that is "for Amazon" illustrates your total lack of understanding of jazz; you should be ashamed for being so stupid. Bill Evans the sax player happens to be an outstanding musician who has been making great music for decades. Bill Evans the piano player was also a great musician. Why disparage the sax player because YOU can't keep the two straight? Seriously, you all come off sounding like dopes.

Joy 1: Among the best playing around by some of the best players around in songs that are powerful, soulful, funky, optimistic. And then there is the haunting Americana touch. No bad track, none.

Joy 2: Recording and mixing that matches the music: crisp, direct, colourful.

Bonus: Because of this album, my kids (beginning musicians) had to admit that my musical taste wasn't uncool after all. Makes me hopeful for Frisell (Nashville!), Brecker, Metheny, Mitchell etc.

Since the last two years, I just can't stop listing and still find new things that bring joy in this music.

I mean, they are all great musicians. Bill Evans is a veteran of many wars. But, honestly, I could not imagine such a good album. This guy deserves much more recognition, really. Well written, beautifully played, imaginative stuff.

I got the note of this "new" album by Bill Evans by way of purchasing "Explorations". A wonderful record by the PIANO player Bill Evans and his trio. This record by the SAX player Bill Evans I have no problem with, the 1 rating is for Amazon. They should screen a bit more carefully. They really should change their ad, even though, in a strange way it is accurate. Ads I think should sometimes be educational. Some could be mislead.