Ultimate Bill Evans

Bill Evans | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 25, 1998)
• Original Release Date: August 25, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000009QTX
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #130,031 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Penultimate, at best., October 30, 2000

By 

Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ultimate Bill Evans (Audio CD)

This certainly is not the ultimate collection of material by one of the most influential voices in jazz of the last 50 years. The early Village Vanguard sessions with Scott LaFaro are ignored as is the late period which witnessed a rejuvenated Evans and a brilliant outpouring of his romantic genius, in part due to the solid, empathetic support of bassist Marc Johnson (neither LaFaro nor Johnson appears on any of the present selections). The 1968 version of "I Loves You Porgy," included in the present collection, pales considerably alongside Evans' interpretation of the same tune on the 1979 "Paris Concerts" collection (a double album that is admittedly not easy to obtain at present). Frankly, I'm less disappointed in the material (Evans always has something worthwhile to offer) than in Herbie for apparently failing to do his homework very thoroughly or carefully.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good selection, June 12, 2001

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G. Sawaged - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ultimate Bill Evans (Audio CD)

I agree with the previous reviewer that this is certainly not the "Ultimate" Bill Evans, but to get that I think you would need to buy the 18 cd set "The Complete Bill Evans on Verve". What Herbie Hancock has done here though, as he states in the liner notes, he decided to pick the performances that he liked the best, regardless of the settings. And this is what we get. Booklet includes an essay on Bill, by Herbie, and his thoughts on each track. It would have been nice to have some with Scott LaFaro playing, but still, this is a good collection, and a good place to start for people who wish to get to know Bill Evan's work. It's a good jumping off place.

5.0 out of 5 stars If not "ultimate", then classic nonetheless, May 23, 2007

By 

Todd Ebert (Long Beach California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ultimate Bill Evans (Audio CD)

First off I must say that I've felt very satisfied with the selections on each of the "Ultimate" recordings I own (Cal Tjader, Wes Montgomery, and Bill Evans). Ultimate Bill Evans is one of several "B" recordings in my collection, in that when I'm thinking of something to listen to, it usually does not come first to mind, but when I perchance listen, it never fails to lift my spirits. Evans is one of the few musicians whose playing speaks to me in an almost personal way (The only other musicians and composers who do that for me are Beethoven, Schumann, Sibelius, Coltrane, and Pat Metheny). And this recording is no exception.

It has quite a good variation of pieces, including beautiful solo/overdubbed recordings ("Round Midnight" and "NYC's No Lark") from his classic "Conversations with Myself" recording, several enjoyable trio recordings ("Walkin Up", "I Believe in You", and "What is this Thing Called Love" being my favorites), and the smooth "Funkallero" with Stan Getz on saxophone.

But I particularly admire most the three duets ("Turn Out the Stars", "Angel Face", and "Jazz Samba") with guitarist Jim Hall. The chemistry between them reminds me of that found between Lyle Mays and Pat Metheny. It is not surprising that Evans and Hall were huge influences on the younger Mays and Metheny respectively. With that said I also highly recommend both "Conversations with Myself" and "Intermodulation" (with Jim Hall): two classic Verve recordings.