Riverside Profiles

Performer: Bill Evans (Piano)
Producer: Nick Phillips (Compilation)
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Contains a bonus disc featuring tracks from other Riverside artists. Personnel: Bill Evans (piano); Bill Evans ; Jim Hall (guitar); Freddie Hubbard (trumpet); Larry Bunker, Paul Motian, Philly Joe Jones (drums). Audio Remasterers: Joe Tarantino; Kirk Felton. Liner Note Author: Chris Albertson. Recording information: Hollywood, CA; New York, NY; Nola Penthouse Studio, New York, NY; Reeves Sound Studios, New York, NY; Sound Makers, New York, NY; The Village Vanguard, New York, NY. This concise, well-selected Bill Evans sampler draws from the beloved jazz pianist's lauded late-1950s/early-'60s tenure on the Riverside label. While all of the tracks here are outstanding examples of Evans's deft, delicate, and inventive playing, the songs performed with drummer Paul Motian and bassist Scott LaFaro (who died in a car crash in '61) are particularly remarkable, as revealed on a beautiful rendition of "Blue in Green" and a breezy version of "Israel," among others. This 2006 compilation also includes a bonus disc that features Riverside recordings by Chet Baker, Thelonious Monk, and other jazz luminaries of the era. The Bill Evans volume in the Riverside Profiles series contains the standard ten selections; they are taken from his six years with the label from 1956-1962. These volumes primarily serve as budget-priced introductions to any given artist, and this one is no exception. There are four tunes here taken from the most famous Bill Evans Trio that included bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian -- "Blue in Green" (1959), "Waltz for Debby," "My Man's Gone Now," and "Israel" (all from 1961). There are also three tunes taken from the band with bassist Chuck Israels (who replaced LaFaro after he was killed in a car accident); they are "Isn't It Romantic" with drummer Larry Bunker (1963) and "How My Heart Sings" and "Re: Person I Knew," both with Motian from 1962. The final three tunes include a solo reading of "Peace Piece" from the Everybody Digs Bill Evans set in 1958; the title cut from the beautifully understated album with Freddie Hubbard, Jim Hall, Percy Heath, and Philly Joe Jones from 1962; and "Speak Low" from Evans' debut album, New Jazz Conceptions with Motian and Teddy Kotick recorded in 1956. This is a fine introduction to Evans' early compositions and his arranging style that would come to fruition in the Miles Davis Quintet with John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley on the Kind of Blue sessions for Columbia. The lyric genius of Evans seemed fully in place from the very beginning, and simply grew from there. Evans fans will find nothing here they don't already have. These Riverside Profiles editions also come with a second disc sampler from the rest of the volumes in the series, including tracks by Thelonious Monk, Charlie Byrd, Art Blakey, Chet Baker, Adderley, Bobby Timmons, and Wes Montgomery. The sound is warm and righteous and the price is certainly right for those seeking a fine smattering of material from one of the greatest piano stylists in jazz. ~ Thom Jurek

One of the most original and influential pianists in jazz, Bill Evans possessed an intensely personal and lyrical approach. The release of his first records under his own name, as well as his appearance on Miles Davis's KIND OF BLUE, pushed Evans rapidly to the forefront of jazz piano. For much of his career--which began in the 1950s and spanned several decades--he worked exclusively with his own trios, which brought collective interplay to new heights and extended the vocabulary of post-bop jazz piano.

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