Customer Reviews

Sunday At The Village Vanguard [Keepnews Collection]

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Sunday at the Village Vanguard is an album that has gained iconic status among jazz recordings. This material has been released in countless formats and incarnations. I am happy to say that I own nearly all of them. This is jazz that is immediate and accessible.

I recently decided to compare this recording to the The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961 of the same performances. That set has 3 disks of all the material available at that time. The only portion missing, sadly, were takes on a lost reel that I am certain many music lovers would give much to locate. The first take of "My Man's Gone Now" and some of the set ending theme were among the items lost on that tape that can be accounted for.

So what of the comparison? Well, the complete recordings clearly offer what the name implies ... complete recordings. The first take of "Gloria's Steps," which was interrupted by an apparent power and equipment failure, is indeed missed. In some ways, that soft and easy first take is the one track I wish could have been somehow magically retrieved in its entirety.

The other aspect of the complete recordings is that they also offer the opportunity to piece together the sets chronologically. In that sense we get to hear the trio progress through the various sets, and the different angles they take on some of the key tunes recorded that day. That is incredibly valuable for a student of this music. This recording does offer us alternate takes of several key tunes, including "Gloria's Steps," "Alice In Wonderland," and "Jade Visions." The ordering here may be more palatable as an *album* experience. But there is no substitute for the complete recordings.

There is another minor difference I have noted between the two recordings, and I have yet to track down the reason for it. The complete recordings definitely seem to have more of the ambient noise of the live recording. This release seems to have a fuller sound to the instruments, though you can still hear the applause and movements of the crowd.

In short, if you have to pick between the two I would still recommend the complete recordings over this release. It sounds wonderful, but for just a little bit more you can have all the sets available. That is simply too compelling of a prospect to pass up.

Where this release excells is in providing a wonderful album to give to the jazz beginner or completist. The beginner will have an easier and more enjoyable time listening to this album from start to finish. And the completist, like me, will be happy to add yet another version of this material to their collection.

So buy the complete collection for yourself, and buy this release as a gift.

Enjoy.

I am completely floored that there are only a couple reviews for this classic. As the title of one of his earlier albums states...'Everybody Digs Bill Evans' I can't even say it's an acquired taste. Unlike single malt scotch, or dark chocolate, this hits you from square one. From the moment I heard it, I was like, 'ahhh...that's it!!' I don't claim to be a critic, but I've been blessed to recognize greatness. It's as if these 3 souls merged briefly, then scattered, forever. Bassist Scott LaFaro was killed in a car accident 10 days after these sets, but thankfully lightning has been caught in a bottle...trust me, this is up there with, 'Kind of Blue', 'Time Out', 'Birth of the Cool', or any of the other 'cool' or 'west coast' jazz greats.

There was some kind of Creative Harmonic Convergence that Jazz was the recipient of during the brief time The Bill Evans Trio,(Bill Evans (Piano), Scott LaFaro (Bass), Paul Motian (Drums), played together. To listen to SUNDAY AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD is to become aware of a chemistry, a creative fire present in this trio. A fire that is timeless. The music on this c.d. sounds as fresh and exciting today as the moment it was expressed through these three musical artists. Sometimes I wonder how Scott LaFaro might have evolved musically. There is no doubt of his consummate gifts as a bassist. He seems to me to be exploding with musical expression. Wonder if he had the chance to develop further whether there might have come into his playing less busyness, more economy, silence. Somehow Bill Evans had that quality from the very beginning. I've never had a pianist affect me the way Bill Evans always has. Especially the ballads. This album is mostly up tempo, and yet I love it for the same reason I do the ballads. It seems to me that Bill Evans played from his heart and soul, and that he penetrated into such a depth in the region of his own being, that his own heart and soul becomes the heart and soul of the listener, in this instance - mine, too. Paul Motian's exquisite, understated and refined playing was the perfect support and complement for the trio. This is the trio against which all others have been and will continue to be measured. To listen to this album is to be touched by PERFECTION.

Total class in Jazz. shame that Scott LaFaro passed away too soon. He had a great tone and it's enjoyable here.