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Post by gregorythefish on Sept 26, 2020 16:02:29 GMT
My instinct is mostly to agree with this. I admit, I was fairly annoyed until I reread your response about Django and such, and then I realized what was going on.
I am resistant to the heavy comparison with European classical music, mostly because a lot of 18th century harmonic music theory doesn't neatly work with things like the blues scale, the bebop scale, etc. But it works alright as a reference point, I suppose.
Of course, there was no drumset in European classical music. The saxophone wasn't invented until the 1900's, so jazz is really an absorbing music. It will take anything it can work with.
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Post by bassman on Sept 26, 2020 16:57:43 GMT
My instinct is mostly to agree with this. I admit, I was fairly annoyed until I reread your response about Django and such, and then I realized what was going on. I am resistant to the heavy comparison with European classical music, mostly because a lot of 18th century harmonic music theory doesn't neatly work with things like the blues scale, the bebop scale, etc. But it works alright as a reference point, I suppose. Of course, there was no drumset in European classical music. The saxophone wasn't invented until the 1900's, so jazz is really an absorbing music. It will take anything it can work with. You're right about the drumset, but it didn't exist in early jazz either. The saxophone was invented in France in 1840, so it is European in origin - but you are so right, jazz is an absorbing music.
There are theories about the blues scale, a term I would like to avoid (not a race issue!). But that's another long story. Bebop scale? That's where you got me. Do you mean the additional blue note of the flatted fifth? Ellington was quite comfortable with it in the 1920s.
Thanks for spending time on my post.
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Post by bassman on Sept 26, 2020 17:43:23 GMT
[ ... ] the bebop scale, etc. [ ... ] Oh, the David Baker stuff ... I think Bird would kill himself laughing ... but may everyone have their own theories. (I have been spending quite some time trying to understand George Russell - you can't, actually. I just love his music.)
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Post by gregorythefish on Sept 27, 2020 15:52:12 GMT
George Russell, to my mind, is a good example of how 18th Century European harmonic sensibilities are not well-suited to explaining all of jazz music. Russell's methods work much better.
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Post by bassman on Sept 28, 2020 7:01:18 GMT
George Russell, to my mind, is a good example of how 18th Century European harmonic sensibilities are not well-suited to explaining all of jazz music. Russell's methods work much better. Absolutely. However, his Lydian concept is best suited to explain - the Lydian concept. Which is based on scales derived from European musical theory (not 18th century, but anyhow). It is ill suited to explain, say, Ornette's harmolodic concept. (No one said 18th century harmonic sensibilities would serve to explain all of jazz music - no way!)
I often listen to George Russell because some of his music simply sounds good. I often return to some of Ornette's seminal recordings, but I don't care about "Skies Of America".
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Post by Doom Girl on Sept 28, 2020 20:47:48 GMT
In 1958 Bill Evans played piano at the session for PORTRAIT OF CANNONBALL (Riverside RLP12-269), an Adderley album with Blue Mitchell, Sam Jones and Philly Joe Jones. For the most part, Evans didn’t contribute much to the proceedings. He adopted a fairly minimalist style backing the soloists and generally was restricted to short solos, especially on the up-tempo numbers where the Joneses had to work mightily to keep up the energy level. He played a pretty solo on the slow Adderley penned tune “Straight Life,” where Cannonball paid homage in his opening statement to Johnny Hodges. Bill’s little solo on “Blue Funk” gives us his clichéd take on each - the “blues” and “funk.” On Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “People Will Say We’re in Love,” Cannonball demonstrates how to turn a popular tune into fine melody-based jazz, but Bill drops the ball on what should have been a gimme for him. I would single out “Nardis,” a Davis tune that Miles gave Adderley for his Riverside debut and that would become an Evans’ favorite, as his best track on the album. Evans is fully engaged on the exotic -sounding track, playing a key role in the statement of the tune, with beautifully chiming chords, and a finely conceived solo. I get the impression that Evans only gets turned on to excel when faced with an interesting challenge – a clever melody, a complex set of changes, a beautiful modal theme. The Phrygian mode and “Gypsy scale” of “Nardis” fit the bill, no pun intended.
In the summer of 1958, Bill was at sessions for two interesting but rather unusual albums. The first was Michel Legrand’s arrangements of classic jazz tunes for various combinations of players, LEGRAND JAZZ (Columbia CL1250). Bill appeared on four tracks that also had Miles Davis and Paul Chambers, among others. Bill played the staircase-like melody on Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug Waltz” (I always think of Eric Dolphy here) and had a nice solo accompanied by Chamber’s bass. John Lewis’ “Django” featured a pensive Miles accompanied by Betty Glaman’s harp and Eddie Costa’s vibraphone and, except for brief interludes, left little room for Bill’s piano. Jelly Roll Morton’s “Wildman Blues” featured Costa’s vibraphone and Coltrane’s tenor in addition to Miles and the solos had nice support from Evans, Chambers and Kenny Dennis on drums. (Interestingly, Miles Davis suggested Kenny Dennis to Bill when he was seeking players to form the trio that would become Evans, LaFaro and Motian. Dennis had played with Stitt, Rollins, the pianists Billy Taylor, Mal Waldron, Phineas Newborn and Ray Bryant, and his wife, singer Nancy Wilson, among others.) Monk’s “Round Midnight” was treated to a characteristically atmospheric arrangement with muted Miles, but again, competing with harp, guitar and vibes, piano had little to do.
Bill also appeared on another Cannonball Adderley album, JUMP FOR JOY (EmArcy MG36146), which featured arrangements by Bill Russo of the songs Duke Ellington penned for the 1941 stage musical of the same name. The arrangements were for trumpet, piano and rhythm section, a string quartet, guitar and Cannonball’s alto. Among the tunes was Duke’s famous “I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good).” Although updated more than a tad for the late ‘50s, the tracks still had an Ellington ‘40’s sound and feel, especially when Cannonball channeled Hodges, who he had down pat, and trumpeter Emmett Berry utilized his mutes ala Bubber Miley and Cootie Williams. Some tracks were quite pretty and even occasionally, when Cannonball was soaring over the strings, brought to mind the sound of Stan Getz’ 1961 masterpiece FOCUS (Verve V6-8412), which had arrangements by Eddie Sauter; and since Cannonball was at his prime in this period, there’s a lot of gorgeous alto sax playing here, but, again, not a whole lot of Bill, though his playing is always supportive and appropriate to the feel of the tunes, sometimes even mimicking Ellington’s sparse piano comments. Milt Hinton and Jimmy Cobb provided an excellent base for the proceedings. The Duke’s wistful “If Life Were All Peaches and Cream,” with Cannonball added to the bowl, had me wishing for better times, before Boris Johnson and Trump, lockdowns and social distancing, worsening racial injustice, global pandemics, climate change refugees, economic disaster, presidential tax fraud, and constitutional crises – not to mention the asteroid that just came within 13,000 miles of hitting earth.
Evans also played on George Russell’s challenging NEW YORK, N.Y., (Decca DL9216) with a cast of giants (Art Farmer, Jimmy Cleveland, Phil Woods, John Coltrane, Al Cohn, Benny Golson, George Duvivier, Milt Hinton, Charlie Persip, Max Roach, vocalist Jon Hendricks, et al.). Bill plays a major role on this interesting album. He has some good rather conventional solos, but then makes some outstanding contributions to “Big City Blues” and the “East City Medley.” On the former, Bill alternates long lines and block chords, illustrates the variety of the blues, with clever references to old time boogie piano, and ends the track with some atonal noodling under a long fade-out by the horns. Russell’s complex arrangement of the Medley puts the spotlight on Evans, who responds with a wonderful Gershwin-esque intro and beautifully melodic solos. The last track on the album, “A Helluva Town” is notable for a solo by Max Roach that is judged by some to be one of the best drum solos in jazz history.
At the end the year, on December 15 of 1958 Bill finally went into the studio to record his second album as leader. EVERYBODY DIGS BILL EVANS (Riverside RLP 1129) has Sam Jones on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The album title reflects an excess of wishful thinking, but Bill has definitely grown in technique and stature in the intervening two years. It is difficult to assess the immediate (real time) responses to albums released so many years ago, as old record reviews are often difficult to access (and unfortunately, in a fit of tidying up, I disposed of most of my old Down Beat magazines some years ago.) It appears that the critics warmed up to Evans somewhat earlier than the public: he won the Downbeat critic’s New Star Award in both 1958 and 1959 despite his earliest albums showing poor sales. By 1959 he had risen to 6th place piano in the Reader’s poll.
By this recording, Evan’s choice of tunes has improved – not so many old and tired chestnuts - and the album starts out with a fine reading of GiGi Gryce’s “Minority” (a tune that was also on PORTRAIT OF CANNONBALL). With the rhythm section of Sam and Philly Joe, Bill has a much better anchor on the up-tempo tunes than with Kotick and Motian. Evans’ interplay with Philly Joe is wonderful on this track. Evans once said, late in his career, that his favorite drummer of all time was Jones, and he called on him several times as an interim player when his working trios lost a drummer. (Unfortunately they were also great pals in the realm of substance abuse.) Evans has better integrated his Powell influence and is coming into his own, his experience with the Davis band definitely honing his skills. There are some lovely ballad performances here, such as “Young and Foolish,” which has a very touching ending, not marred by the over-romanticism that sometimes afflicts Evans. Sam Jones, with a strong but mellow tone, handles the ballad well, with very few, but very well placed, notes. The next track, a solo “Lucky To Be Me,” doesn’t fare as well and Bill wears his sensitivity on his sleeve, with over-exaggerated tempo variations, but this track does display Bill’s skill with pedal modulations of volume and tone, skills learned in part from studying and playing the classical repertoire. “Night and Day” finds Philly Joe knocking on the door, to begin a rousing version with dance-like rhythms and Bill trying his hand at block chords. The last choruses are delightful, with a fully engaged Bill unable to suppress a bit of vocalizing, ala Oscar Peterson, or perhaps Glenn Gould. At this stage of his development, Bill thrives with the more active and rhythmic Philly Joe on drums (as contrasted with Motian).
There is also a beautiful unaccompanied first version of “Peace Piece,” where we hear glimmers of greatness. The solo is a sublimely constructed work of beauty against a simple left hand motif reminiscent of Erik Satie’s ethereal short pieces. “What Is There To Say” also features a pensive Bill with sensitive backing by the Joneses. Bill’s solo on this one is outstanding in its rhythmic and tonal variety. A fast paced version of Rollins’ “Oleo” again has some rousing piano-drum interactions. A short solo (and repeated) “Epilogue,” with a series of beautiful ringing chords lets Bill end the album on what is becoming a more characteristic (i.e., more serene and lovelier) note. Bill’s skills at crafting codas, breaks and turnarounds are beginning to shine through – in short, some of the arranging skills he will later put to use in the first “great” Trio. In sum, this is a very fine album, showing the variety of Bill’s strengths (and occasional weaknesses), moods and skills and is one of my favorite Evans’ albums.
The following year, 1959, was another busy and important year for Bill, with the release of two albums with Chet Baker, an impromptu late night trio session with Paul Chambers and Philly Joe, his third album as a leader – THE IVORY HUNTERS - Miles’ KIND OF BLUE, and then the formation of his so-called “first great Trio.”
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Post by bassman on Sept 29, 2020 11:25:29 GMT
[ ... ] EVERYBODY DIGS BILL EVANS (Riverside RLP 1129) has Sam Jones on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The album title reflects an excess of wishful thinking, but Bill has definitely grown in technique and stature in the intervening two years. It is difficult to assess the immediate (real time) responses to albums released so many years ago, as old record reviews are often difficult to access (and unfortunately, in a fit of tidying up, I disposed of most of my old Down Beat magazines some years ago.) It appears that the critics warmed up to Evans somewhat earlier than the public: he won the Downbeat critic’s New Star Award in both 1958 and 1959 despite his earliest albums showing poor sales. By 1959 he had risen to 6th place piano in the Reader’s poll. [ ... ] I didn't. In fact, I created a kind of review database over the years. Unfortunately, my Down Beat collection only starts from the eighties. In more recent years, Down Beat has given the album ****/* (Jan. 2008, p. 77). But, according to one review in the German magazine, Jazz Podium (Aug. 1959), Bill Evans was counted "among the most brilliant jazz piano players these days", the album revealing "his best sides" and "at times, a pensiveness associated with Miles Davis, with whom he worked a couple of months last year." Also, "he is able to transform some trite pieces such as Tenderly or Night And Day into a new musical experience." They gave it ***** out of six, six being the maximum. Another reviewer (JP Dec. 1960) rates the album *****/*, calling it "a showcase for the young pianist from Plainfield, NJ", and "if it weren't for Portrait In Jazz (RLP 12-315), which marks another increase in quality, I would have given it the maximum rating."
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Post by Doom Girl on Sept 29, 2020 18:11:09 GMT
[ ... ] EVERYBODY DIGS BILL EVANS (Riverside RLP 1129) has Sam Jones on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The album title reflects an excess of wishful thinking, but Bill has definitely grown in technique and stature in the intervening two years. It is difficult to assess the immediate (real time) responses to albums released so many years ago, as old record reviews are often difficult to access (and unfortunately, in a fit of tidying up, I disposed of most of my old Down Beat magazines some years ago.) It appears that the critics warmed up to Evans somewhat earlier than the public: he won the Downbeat critic’s New Star Award in both 1958 and 1959 despite his earliest albums showing poor sales. By 1959 he had risen to 6th place piano in the Reader’s poll. [ ... ] I didn't. In fact, I created a kind of review database over the years. Unfortunately, my Down Beat collection only starts from the eighties. In more recent years, Down Beat has given the album ****/* (Jan. 2008, p. 77). But, according to one review in the German magazine, Jazz Podium (Aug. 1959), Bill Evans was counted "among the most brilliant jazz piano players these days", the album revealing "his best sides" and "at times, a pensiveness associated with Miles Davis, with whom he worked a couple of months last year." Also, "he is able to transform some trite pieces such as Tenderly or Night And Day into a new musical experience." They gave it ***** out of six, six being the maximum. Another reviewer (JP Dec. 1960) rates the album *****/*, calling it "a showcase for the young pianist from Plainfield, NJ", and "if it weren't for Portrait In Jazz (RLP 12-315), which marks another increase in quality, I would have given it the maximum rating." Thanks for posting. I hadn't been able to find any of the old reviews of EVERYBODY DIGS BILL EVANS. The earliest I found was in the Down Beat yearbooks they put out for each year, several of which I do have. From the ‘63 Downbeat Yearbook I found that both SUNDAY AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD and WALTZ FOR DEBBIE were reviewed in 1962 and received 4 stars (out of a possible 5). The Evans/Hall album UNDERCURRENT was reviewed in the same year and received 5 stars, as did, for example, Red Garland’s DIG IT, Stan Getz’ FOCUS, Charlie Mingus’ TIJUANA MOODS and Sonny Rollins’ THE BRIDGE (what a year!). By the ’64 Downbeat Yearbook, Evans was certainly the critics’ darling and he received a Jazzman of the Year Award, along with Duke Ellington and Woody Herman (ridiculous, to my mind!). He had also won the 1963 International Jazz Critics Poll as No. 1 pianist.
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dg
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Post by dg on Oct 5, 2020 19:49:01 GMT
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Post by dg on Oct 6, 2020 23:44:05 GMT
The version of "On Green Dolphin Street" was recorded on January 19, 1959. Bill, Philly Joe and Paul Chambers were in the studio to finish up work on a Chet Baker album and stayed in the studio afterwards, for some fun.
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dg
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Post by dg on Oct 7, 2020 2:29:21 GMT
“…..The other tracks that were recorded at Miles’ studio session in May of 1958, “On Green Dolphin Street,” “Fran-Dance” and “Stella by Starlight” (first released in 1959 on JAZZ TRACK, along with the “Ascenseur pour l’échafaud” soundtrack recordings, Columbia CL1268, and later on the album 1958 MILES), are also classic Miles, with nice work by Bill, and at times – especially on “Green Dolphin Street” – they also exhibit the kind of piano/bass/drum interactions heard on “Love for Sale.”….”
"On Green Dolphin Street" was written by the Polish composer Bronislau Kaper for a forties movie of the same name. It was said to be a tune that Cannonball Adderley suggested to the Davis group.
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Post by dg on Oct 10, 2020 4:20:53 GMT
1959 was a busy and important year for Bill Evans, with the release of two albums with Chet Baker, an impromptu late night trio session with Paul Chambers and Philly Joe, his third album as a leader (THE IVORY HUNTERS ), Miles’ KIND OF BLUE, and then the formation of his so-called first great Trio.…….
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Post by dg on Oct 10, 2020 4:37:49 GMT
Cannonball Adderley channels Johnny Hodges on this whimsical old Ellington tune, with Bill Evans playing the part of "The Duke."
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Post by dg on Oct 10, 2020 18:44:08 GMT
Part 4:
January 1959 found Bill in the studio with trumpeter Chet Baker to finish up the recordings for Baker’s Riverside album CHET - THE LYRICAL TRUMPET OF CHET BAKER (RLP-1135). Also on hand were Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones. The three Davis alumni stayed in the studio and recorded a set of tunes themselves. For some reason (they didn’t make up a full album, perhaps a fastidious Bill objected to their release) these recordings did not see the light of day until 1975, when they were paired with the tracks from the aforementioned EVERYBODY DIGS BILL EVANS to yield PEACE PIECE AND OTHER PIECES (Milestone M-47024). The set with Chambers and Jones was also released later as ON GREEN DOLPHIN STREET (Victor/Riverside SMJ-6247) in 1977.
Chambers and Jones demonstrate mastery of their instruments throughout and provide expert support for Bill and, being excellent improvisers, favor us with many fine solos. However, the session did not live up to my high expectations: apparently being an impromptu session, there is not the sort of planned coordination of bass, drum and piano parts that were heard, for example, in the sessions with Miles’ group or in recordings such as EVERYBODY DIGS BILL EVANS. Chambers is well able to come up with some interesting counterpoint during the exposition of tunes, but largely sticks to a walking bass role. With his magnificent tone and choice of notes this isn’t necessarily a debit. Lots of room is left for solos, and Chambers pleases with an excellent arco bass solo, accompanied by a bit of vocalizing, on “How Am I To Know.” His solo is followed by a superb brushed drum solo featuring many pitch and texture changes by Philly Joe. Two sprightly takes of “Wood’n You” are next. Recorded not long after Christmas, Bill’s long “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” quote in “My Heart Stood Still” seems appropriate and provides a bit of humor in the work of a man less than famous for that trait. He seems to be having fun throughout this track. However, in retrospect, I can see why Bill wouldn’t want these tracks released at the time. He wanted to form a trio with a certain cachet – one with “an equal role for each instrument” – and these tracks didn’t fill that bill, as they relegated bass and drums to their usual “piano trio” roles
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Without a doubt, the title track, “On Green Dolphin Street,” another of those tunes made famous by the trio’s previous boss, is the best. Being familiar with the tune in other contexts, the men put together a fine arrangement during the exposition of the tune, with Chambers providing a solid pedal point and Jones interesting accents, before launching into Bill’s solo, which is among his finest and most unusual, with almost every note played as a chord, followed by solos by Paul and Philly Joe. The original album has one other track, “Loose Bloose” which also has Jim Hall on guitar and Zoot Sims, tenor sax. Instead of this last track, the CD release of the album has “All of You”(Take 1)* on it. This is a track that was recorded on 6/25/61 at The Village Vanguard by the famous trio with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian. It stands in stark contrast to the Chambers/Jones team, which sounds almost majestic in comparison. Motian and LaFaro are good but the former sometimes brings to mind the sound of rats skittering across a hot tin roof and the latter a hyperactive teenager late for a very important date. LaFaro is all over the place, leaping back and forth across octaves, but not always contributing something that fits in with what’s going on around him - but analysis of this trio’s work comes later in this chronology.
*(Pettinger’s book on Bill Evans, “How My Heart Sings” states that “All of You” Take 1 is only available on the 18 LP boxed set THE COMPLETE RIVERSIDE RECORDINGS, but it is in fact on the CD version of ON GREEN DOLPHIN STREET.)
In 1959, two Chet Baker albums on which Bill played were released: CHET (on which Bill plays on 7 tracks) and CHET BAKER PLAYS THE BEST OF LERNER AND LOWE (Riverside RLP-1152), with Bill on 4 tracks. CHET starts out well with “Alone Together,” with a pretty piano intro, then trumpet enters, which is soon joined by the baritone sax of Pepper Adams, bringing to mind the classic Mulligan/Baker bands. Herbie Mann’s flute joins in, thankfully only briefly, to give what is to my ear one of the worst sounding front lines on record – a brassy trumpet, a sickly flute and a baritone sax (who often struggle to play in tune with each other). “How High the Moon” and “Tis Autumn” are among the tunes that sound like they’re being played by your ‘50’s-era school dance band. At times, I almost believed this might be a musical joke, or perhaps half the band was on the nod. With his delicate touch and ringing tones, Bill plays some very pretty intros and short solos throughout the album, but that is not enough to redeem it as a whole. He has one rather effective up-tempo long-lined solo where I thought he must have his left hand in his pocket and another solo that is almost all block chords. As usual, Chambers’ bass stands out as excellent, despite the surroundings. Though I’ve been tempted to get rid of this album, I save it for its characteristic ‘50’s-style cover, the soft focus photo of Chet soulfully staring out at us with a young woman resting her head on his back. For all Chettie’s interest, it might as well be a knapsack – or perhaps he is just so used to the weight of the monkey that is usually there, he doesn’t notice her.
CHET BAKER PLAYS THE BEST OF LERNER AND LOWE, saddled in part with the same front line, with the addition of Zoot Sims, is somewhat of an improvement over the previous Baker album. On “Thank Heaven for Little Girls,” Chet has a rather nice solo and Bill tries to convince us he can play with both hands, with Earl May and Clifford Jordan providing nice support on bass and drums. Bill has a pretty intro and short solo on “I Talk to the Trees” and does a fine job behind a smooth little solo by Zoot, but Mann torpedoes yet another cut with that grotesque flute tone of his. “I Could Have Danced All Night” might be the nadir, a sappy tune paired with primer level solos by Mann, Baker and Evans. The closer, “Show Me” picks up the pace, and its lively solos by Mann, Pepper, Zoot (on alto on this one), Chet and Bill bring the album to a nice close. This album was not a great showing, but not an unmitigated disaster either. Baker cut some very good albums – especially early on, with Gerry Mulligan – but I don’t number these two among them. One thing I admire Baker for is his own amazement, almost regret, that he was winning polls over the great trumpet players he respected and aped, especially Miles Davis. Having slogged through every one of the 400 plus pages of James Gavins’ biography, “Deep in A Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker,” I read that Baker had an amazing natural talent, a great ear and an early technical facility, but unfortunately used and/or abused nearly every person who cared for or about him, behavior that is perhaps deemed irrelevant by most listeners.
Of course 1959 also saw one of the zeniths of Bill’s career: his appearance on Miles Davis’ KIND OF BLUE. Bill’s contributions to the success of this classic album are well known and needn’t be rehearsed here. From Miles’ own testament, we know that Bill had an important influence on him – for example, encouraging his interest in “classical” music and in developing the “modal” style – and the reverse is surely true. Miles also said that among the reasons that he chose Evans for his band was that he sounded like Ahmad Jamal. Many critics, especially those that considered Jamal at the level of the cocktail lounge pianist, found this inexplicable, but in fact Miles had here identified some key elements to Bill’s talent and style, which we will go into more later.
Concerning the KIND OF BLUE sessions, Miles had this to say in “The Autobiography:” “Some people went around saying that Bill was co-composer of the music on KIND OF BLUE. That isn’t true; it’s all mine and the concept was mine. What he did do was turn me on to some classical composers, and they influenced me. But the first time Bill saw any of that music was when I gave him a sketch to look at just like everyone else.” (page 234, 1990 edition). Well, maybe.
1959 also saw the release of Evans third album as leader, the bizarre THE IVORY HUNTERS - DOUBLE BARRELLED PIANO (United Artists UAS-6044), with an outstanding rhythm duo, Percy Heath and Connie Kay, and Bob Brookmeyer, here playing not his usual valve trombone, but piano. Perhaps the idea for this album was suggested by the 1957 success of the very enjoyable album DOUBLE PLAY! (Contemporary C-3537) by the technically brilliant pianists Andre Previn and Russ Freeman, which was famous not only for its delightful music but also its ‘50s-era double (even triple) entendre cover. About the pairing of Evans and Brookmeyer, The Allmusic critic Michael G. Nastos thinks: "…this was a good idea and a marvelous concept, where the two could use the concept of counterpoint and improvisation to an enjoyable means, much like a great chess match.” It was a better idea in the planning than in the execution.
The opening “Honeysuckle Rose” is one of the worst offenders, with the men tripping over each other, musically speaking. “As Time Goes By” may be the most enjoyable track because the two players pass the baton back and forth, chorus to chorus, and the secondary player lays out for the most part. Sections of other songs that follow this rule are the most successful, although clearly Brookmeyer is no Evans. Bob is an able pianist and has some fairly good solos. But for the most part, the accompanist piano on each tune adds little of value to the soloist piano, whether that’s Evans and Brookmeyer or the reverse – and they often clash, to my ear. (FYI – in stereo, Evans is on the right channel, Brookmeyer on the left.) Heath and Kay lay down a nice beat on “It Could Happen To You,” sounding very much like the Crosby/Fournier duo behind Ahmad Jamal, or even the later Quartet Trés Bien of KILIMANJARO (Decca DL 4548) fame.
Somewhat perversely, this album finds Evans trotting out some percussive banging-away and keyboard length runs I associate more with Liberace than the fine jazz pianist he is. The presence of the second pianist seems to inspire him to play louder and more aggressively. This plays against his main strengths, but then too, it is interesting to hear this side of him. On “I Got Rhythm,” we can glimpse what they were trying to accomplish. This track has a nice arrangement, some very clever interactions between the two pianists, and lively participation of the bass and drums. So lively in fact, it had my partner, not often a lover of my music, dancing around the house. Apparently, when he walked into the studio, Bill had no idea that misguided producer Jack Lewis had planned this absurd idea to make him record with what amounted to an amateur at the second grand piano in the room. I suppose Bill made the best of it. An album of Bill with Heath and Kay could have been a very good one. Ironically, when looked at from a distance, the elephant head pictured on the cover looks suspiciously like a turkey!
At this point in his career, Bill wished to form a new trio and consulted with Miles, who suggested Jimmy Garrison on bass (that could have changed jazz history!) and Kenny Dennis on drums. When that didn’t work out, Bill reunited with Paul Motian and chose the young bass player Scott LaFaro. Not shy with his opinions, Miles had this to say about Bill’s leaving his band and the subsequent formation of the new trio:
“Some of the things that caused Bill to leave the band hurt me, like that s*** some black people put on him about being a white boy in our band…. As long as they can play what I want that’s it. But I know this stuff got under Bill’s skin and made him feel bad. Bill was a very sensitive person and it didn’t take much to set him off. Then a lot of people were saying he didn’t play fast enough and hard enough for them, that he was too delicate.” (“Miles, The Autobiography,” page 231, 1990 edition)
“He was a great little piano player, but I don’t think he ever sounded as good after that as he did when he played with me. It’s a strange thing about a lot of white guys – not all, just most – that after they make it in a black group they always go and play with all white guys no matter how good the black guys treated them. Bill did that, and I’m not saying he could have gotten any black guys any better than Scott and Paul, I’m just telling what I’ve seen happen over and over again.” (“Miles, The Autobiography,” page 232, 1990 edition)
Coming after KIND OF BLUE and recorded at the very end of 1959, Evans’ next release as leader, PORTRAIT IN JAZZ, is the first with LaFaro and Motian and, heard in 2020, seems a surprisingly conventional piano trio album…..
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dg
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Post by dg on Oct 15, 2020 22:13:55 GMT
“Autumn Leaves” from the Bill Evans Trio album PORTRAIT IN JAZZ with Scott LaFaro,bass, and Paul Motian, drums
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