Cannonball Adderley & Bill Evans – Know What I Mean? (1962/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Cannonball Adderley & Bill Evans – Know What I Mean? (1962/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 40:16 minutes | 874 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Concord Records

Know What I Mean? is a 1962 album by jazz musician Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, accompanied by Bill Evans and the rhythm section of the Modern Jazz Quartet. It was released on Riverside label as RLP-433.

Barely noticeable on the album cover is a small picture of Bill Evans, directly underneath the sculpture (from Bertha Schaefer Gallery) to Adderley’s right.

(more…)

Read more

Bill Evans Trio – Sunday At The Village Vanguard (1961/2002) DSF DSD64

Bill Evans Trio – Sunday At The Village Vanguard (1961/2002)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:08:38 minutes | 2,71 GB | Genre:Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: AcousticSounds |  © Riverside Records

Few albums in the history of contemporary American music can be more deserving than this one of the designation Original Jazz Classic. It is the first of two Riverside albums derived from the legendary final appearance of the first Bill Evans trio – taped during the last day of a Village Vanguard engagement, barely ten days before the tragic death of bassist Scott LaFaro. The recordings have long been recognized as capturing the essence of the unique three-way interaction that characterized the trio. This album is further distinguished by its emphasis on the solo work and compositions of the innovative LaFaro.

(more…)

Read more

Bill Evans – Some Other Time: The Lost Session From The Black Forest (1968/2016) DSF DSD128

Bill Evans – Some Other Time: The Lost Session From The Black Forest (1968/2016)
DSD128 (.dsf) 1 bit/5,64 MHz | Time – 01:33:40 minutes | 7,41 GB | Genre: Jazz
Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | Digital Booklet | © 2xHD
Recorded: MPS Studios in Villingen, Germany, June 20, 1968

This double album includes 93 minutes of never before heard captivating studio recordings by pianist Bill Evans in solo, duo and trio settings and is only the second release —(and the only studio album) to feature the short-lived Bill Evans Trio with drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Eddie Gomez. Recently unearthed, these tracks were taken from a session in June 1968, only five days after the trio’s triumphant performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Recorded by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer (HGBS) and Joachim-Ernst Brendt in Germany, these songs were originally intended for the legendary MPS label but for some reason were never released. It’s a remarkable document of an under-represented period in the career of one of the icons of jazz.

(more…)

Read more

Bill Evans – Montreux II (1970/2013) DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Bill Evans – Montreux II (1970/2013)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 39:37 minutes | 1,56 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: e-Onkyo | Front Cover |  © CTI Records
Recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Casino De Montreux, Switzerland on June 19 & 20, 1970

Montreux II is a live album by jazz pianist Bill Evans with Eddie Gómez and Marty Morell recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 1970 and released on the CTI label. The album was the second of Evan’s Montreux concert recordings to be released following the Grammy Award-winning Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival (1968).

(more…)

Read more

Bill Evans – Live at Art d’Lugoff’s Top of the Gate (2012/2017) DSF DSD128

Bill Evans – Live at Art d’Lugoff’s Top of the Gate (2012/2017)
DSF Stereo DSD128, 1 bit/5,6 MHz | Time – 01:29:50 minutes | 7,09 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: nativeDSDmusic | Booklet, Front Cover | © 2xHD/Resonance Records
Recorded live October 23, 1968, Greenwich Village, NYC by George Klabin

The album Live at Art D’Lugoff’s Top of the Gate, offers listeners a table at the front of the stage for a stellar performance by one of jazz’s greatest trios. It’s October 23, 1968 in Greenwich Village, The lineup that night consisted of three musicians in their prime: Evans, bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty Morell. Evans had, reportedly, kicked his drug habit during this period, and this was thought by many to be his most stable and, certainly, longest-lasting group. This trio was together until 1975. Evans is in both swinging and contemplative modes and highlights the trio’s superb interaction. Gomez had been with Evans since 1966, while Morell came aboard in 1968; Gomez was a master improviser, while Morell was an energetic, straight-ahead drummer, always keeping the trio on track. Along with the leader, both contribute masterful solos here. The album features two complete sets, including two versions of three songs. There is one original (“Turn Out the Stars”); the rest are jazz standards and familiar show tunes.
Throughout the two sets, Evans showcases his gift for interpreting standards, over the seventeen tracks. “My Funny Valentine” moves effortlessly from tenderness to passion, while “Gone with the Wind” erupts at a breakneck pace and “Here’s That Rainy Day” concludes the evening with heart-breaking emotion.
Students of Evans’ music will be delighted to see that three pieces (“Emily,” “Yesterdays,” and “‘Round Midnight”) are represented in both the first and second sets, offering a rare opportunity to compare the soloists’ diverging takes on the same tunes in a single evening. Also, several of the selections possess historic significance: both “My Funny Valentine” and “Here’s That Rainy Day” (and possibly “Mother of Earl”) mark Evans’ first documented trio performances of those songs, while “Here’s That Rainy Day” may be the first time Evans recorded that piece period.

(more…)

Read more

Bill Evans – Another Time: The Hilversum Concert (2017) DSF DSD128 + Hi-Res FLAC

Bill Evans – Another Time: The Hilversum Concert (2017)
DSD128 (.dsf) 1 bit/5,6 MHz | Time – 47:50 minutes | 3,77 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/176,4 kHz | Time – 47:50 minutes | 853 MB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | | Front Cover | Genre: Jazz | © 2xHD

„Another Time: The Hilversum Concert“ is a rare, never-before-issued recording of the legendary Bill Evans trio featuring Eddie Gomez on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums, captured live at the Netherlands Radio Union Studios in Hilversum on June 22, 1968. This is only the third known recording in existence of this particular trio, who only performed together as a trio for a six month period in 1968, and was originally recorded and broadcast on the radio program Jazz in Actie by Dutch producer Joop de Roo. For the audiophile, this is possibly the best sounding live recording of Bill Evans found to date, captured with the then state of the art equipment of the NRU, and kept in pristine condition over the years.

(more…)

Read more

Bill Evans – You Must Believe In Spring (1980) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2011] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Bill Evans – You Must Believe In Spring (1980) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2011]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 58:13 minutes | Scans NOT included | 2,33 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans NOT included | 0,98 GB
or DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 00:58:17 | 2.3 GB

This well-rounded set (released posthumously) features the highly influential pianist Bill Evans in a set of typically sensitive trio performances. With his longtime bassist Eddie Gomez and his drummer of the period, Eliot Zigmund, Evans explores such songs as “We Will Meet Again,” Jimmy Rowles’s classic “The Peacocks” and the “Theme from M*A*S*H.” It’s a solid example of the great pianist’s artistry.

(more…)

Read more

Bill Evans with Jeremy Stieg – What’s New (1963) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2011] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Bill Evans with Jeremy Stieg – What’s New (1963) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2011]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 44:42 minutes | Scans NOT included | 1,79 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans NOT included | 908 MB

This reissue has the debut of drummer Marty Morell with Bill Evans and bassist Eddie Gomez; that particular trio would keep the same personnel for six productive years. Actually this is a quartet set with guest flutist Jeremy Steig, whose playing recalls Herbie Mann’s recording (Nirvana) with Evans back in the early ’60s. Both flutists were always open to the influences of pop and rock although in both of their collaborations with Bill Evans, the music is very much on the pianist’s turf. With the exception of Evans’ “Time Out for Chris” and the “Spartacus Love Theme,” the songs performed on this date would fit securely in the Miles Davis repertoire of the late ’50s. Steig is in particularly fine form on the program which includes tunes such as “Straight No Chaser”, “Autumn Leaves” and “So What”.

(more…)

Read more

Bill Evans Trio – Waltz for Debby (1961) [Hybrid-SACD ReIssue 2002] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Bill Evans Trio – Waltz for Debby (1961) [Hybrid-SACD ReIssue 2002]
SACD ISO (Stereo): 3,02 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,24 GB | Full Artwork | 3% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Analogue Productions # CAPJ 9399 SA | Country/Year: Europe 2002
Genre: Jazz | Style: Post Bop

Years ago, having heard this was one of the best jazz records ever, I bought the CD, finding it indifferently mastered and mildly boring. In view of the high regard for this recording, I have retried it every now and then, reestablishing the same impressions.
The SACD reincarnation transformed all this. Listening to the same music has become infinitely more involving, a sensual experience.
Yes, the recording has its very apparent shortcomings: the piano, slightly coarse, comes out of the right speaker only; the drums and the somewhat bigger-than-life double-bass come from the left speaker only; there is hardly any middle, except for audience noises.
However, what presence and tangibility! In spite of these shortcomings and being “only stereo”, this is still one of the best-sounding SACDs I have had the pleasure of hearing. Actually, audience noises and clicking of glasses only add to the feeling of “being THERE”, much more so than, say, in the audiophile classic Jazz at the Pawnshop, Vol. 1 – Arne Domnerus in its newer (2005) remastering. Recommended! SA-CD.net

(more…)

Read more

Bill Evans Trio – Waltz For Debby (1962) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2014] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Bill Evans Trio – Waltz For Debby (1962) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2014]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 38:22 minutes | Scans included | 1,55 GB
or FLAC (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Full Scans included | 888 MB

Waltz for Debby is a live album by jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans and his Trio consisting of Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian. his album is widely considered to be one of the best in the Evans canon, and the type of emotive interplay between the musicians that at some points seemed almost deconstructed has served as a model for piano trio play.

(more…)

Read more

Bill Evans Trio – Sunday At The Village Vanguard (1961) [2002, Analogue Productions Stereo SACD] SACD ISO

Bill Evans Trio – Sunday At The Village Vanguard (1961) [2002, Analogue Productions Stereo SACD]
SACD ISO (Stereo): 2,75 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,30 GB | Artwork
Label/Cat#: Analogue Productions # CAPJ 9376 SA | Country/Year: US 1961, 2002 | 3% Recovery Info
Genre: Jazz | Style: Post Bop, Instrumental, Modal

Most of the APO analog to DSD conversions are great, but this one is probably the best from a sonic perspective. And if you like jazz trio’s with articulate bass playing and a clear and purposeful piano technique, then you are in for a treat. This is a live recording set at the New York Village Vanguard jazz club with accompanying audience ‘participation’, though that never distracts. The Stereo separation is rather absolute left/right, with the piano in the right speaker and the rest in the left. There is virtually no center image.

It is said that the interaction with his rhythmn section and the prominent place he gives them is a hallmark of the Bill Evans Trio. The bass of Scott LaFaro gets the same attention here as Bill Evans’ piano. Every song is rich in texture and communicates the enormous skills of each of the players. There are many tempo changes and the playing just demands your attention. This is not one for background music, it’s far too interesting for that.

Unfortunately LaFaro died in a car accident ten days after this recording – one of the reasons for featuring him so prominently here. A second album was cut of this session. So if you want to re-live that afternoon on June 25, 1961, you have no choice to buy ‘Waltz For Debbie’ as well – some choice

===

One of the finest sounding Jazz SACDs in my collection. Expensive now (cira 2013), but it is a must have SACD. At first I thought there was a pressing error/glitch on one track, but I double checked the OJC Red Book and it is there as well. Every system update reveals more information from this stunning SACD. It will hurt when you shell out the bucks for it today unless you can get a good deal, but man is it so worth it! Highest recommendation. sa-cd.net

(more…)

Read more

Bill Evans Trio – Moon Beams (1962) [2002, Analogue Productions Stereo SACD] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Bill Evans Trio – Moon Beams (1962) [2002, Analogue Productions Stereo SACD]
SACD ISO (Stereo): 1,57 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 730 MB | Artwork | 3% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Analogue Productions # CAPJ 9428 SA | Country/Year: US 1962, 2002
Genre: Jazz | Style: Post Bop, Instrumental, Modal

Review by Thom Jurek

Moonbeams was the first recording Bill Evans made after the death of his musical right arm, bassist Scott LaFaro. Indeed, in LaFaro, Evans found a counterpart rather than a sideman, and the music they made together over four albums showed it. Bassist Chuck Israels from Cecil Taylor and Bud Powell’s bands took his place in the band with Evans and drummer Paul Motian and Evans recorded the only possible response to the loss of LaFaro — an album of ballads. The irony on this recording is that, despite material that was so natural for Evans to play, particularly with his trademark impressionistic sound collage style, is that other than as a sideman almost ten years before, he has never been more assertive than on Moonbeams. It is as if, with the death of LaFaro, Evans’ safety net was gone and he had to lead the trio alone. And he does first and foremost by abandoning the impressionism in favor of a more rhythmic and muscular approach to harmony. The set opens with an Evans original, “RE: Person I Knew,” a modal study that looks back to his days he spent with Miles Davis. There is perhaps the signature jazz rendition of “Stairway to the Stars,” with its loping yet halting melody line and solo that is heightened by Motian’s gorgeous brush accents in the bridge section. Other selections are so well paced and sequenced the record feels like a dream, with the lovely stuttering arpeggios that fall in “If You Could See Me Now,” and the cascading interplay between Evan’s chords and Israel’s punctuation in “It Might As Well Be Spring,” a tune Evans played for the rest of his life. The set concludes with a waltz in “Very Early,” that is played at that proper tempo with great taste and delicate elegance throughout, there is no temptation by the rhythm section to charge it up or to elongate the harmonic architecture by means of juggling intervals. Moonbeams was a startling return to the recording sphere and a major advancement in his development as a leader. allmusicguide

There is a storyline running through this and the other two Evans album – also reviewed here – that provides depth to the music. It’s of course about LaFaro, but there is more. When Bill Evans does ballads I always feel he is talking, and that takes listening to him to a different level. It’s not only a fine flowing, elegant piano piece – but let’s not forget the sensitive contributions of Chuck Israels on bass and Paul Motian on drums. It has that something extra that is difficult to put into words. It invites you to really listen and it takes the ballad out of the realm of background music.

Analogue Productions has produced some of the best sounding piano on SA-CD, and this one is no exception. If you want to listen to Bill Evans’ story you owe it to yourself to buy all three discs (‘Saturday At The Village Vanguard’ and ‘Waltz For Debbie’ are the other two). sa-cd.net

(more…)

Read more

Bill Evans – Trio 64 (1964) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2012] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Bill Evans – Trio 64 (1964) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2012]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 35:23 minutes | Scans included | 1,44 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 771 MB

Joining Bill Evans (piano) on Trio ’64 – his initial three-piece recording for Verve – is the compact rhythm section of Gary Peacock (bass) and Paul Motian (drums). The effort spotlights their communal and intuitive musical discourse, hinging on an uncanny ability of the musicians to simultaneously hear and respond. All the more interesting, Evans had not interacted in this setting before, having most recently worked with Chuck Israels (bass) and Larry Bunker (drums). The personable opener, “Little Lulu,” features the aggregate melodically molding individual and distinct sonic characteristics. Evans’ nimble and emphatic syncopation is not only ably supported, but framed by Peacock’s expressive runs and Motian’s acute sense of timing. “A Sleeping Bee” is one of the collection’s most endearing selections as the groove playfully scintillates surrounding some hauntingly poignant chord changes. Evans bandies back and forth with Peacock, the latter likewise providing a stellar solo. “Always” captures a similar effervescence as the instrumentalists ebb and flow in synchronicity. Since the December 18 session was held the week before Christmas 1963, they fittingly tote out “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” creating a minor masterpiece of post-bop from what could easily have started as a spontaneous seasonal suggestion. Noël Coward’s “I’ll See You Again” bears a brisk waltz persona, enabling the unit to fluently weave its offerings without obstructing the otherwise affective tune. Concluding Trio ’64 is Rodgers & Hart’s standard “Everything Happens to Me,” with an unhurried tempo lingering just long enough to embrace the familiar refrain. Evans sparkles, gliding around Peacock’s full-bodied basslines and Motian’s solid yet restrained beat.

(more…)

Read more

Bill Evans Trio – Portrait In Jazz (1959) [Reissue 2003] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Bill Evans Trio – Portrait In Jazz (1959) [Reissue 2003]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 51:46 minutes | Scans included | 2,2 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 1,13 GB

The first of two studio albums by the Bill Evans-Scott LaFaro-Paul Motian trio (both of which preceded their famous engagement at the Village Vanguard), this Portrait in Jazz reissue contains some wondrous interplay, particularly between pianist Evans and bassist LaFaro, on the two versions of “Autumn Leaves.” Other than introducing Evans’ “Peri’s Scope,” the music is comprised of standards, but the influential interpretations were far from routine or predictable at the time. LaFaro and Motian were nearly equal partners with the pianist in the ensembles and their versions of such tunes as “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “When I Fall in Love,” and “Someday My Prince Will Come” (which preceded Miles Davis’ famous recording by a couple years) are full of subtle and surprising creativity. A gem.

(more…)

Read more

Bill Evans Quintet – Interplay (1962) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2011] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Bill Evans Quintet – Interplay (1962) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2011]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 38:59 minutes | Scans included | 1,63 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 878 MB

Interplay stands as some of Bill Evans’ most enigmatic and unusual music in makeup as well as execution. It was recorded in July 1962 with a very young Freddie Hubbard from the Jazz Messengers, guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Philly Joe Jones performing five veteran standards. Evans has a more blues-based approach to playing: harder, edgier, and in full flow, fueled in no small part by Hall, who is at his very best here, swinging hard whether it be a ballad or an uptempo number. Hubbard’s playing, on the other hand, was never so restrained as it was here. Using a mute most of the time, his lyricism is revealed to jazz listeners for the first time — with Art Blakey it was a blistering attack of hard bop aggression. On this program of standards, however, Hubbard slips into them quite naturally without the burden of history — check his reading and improvisation on “When You Wish Upon a Star.” Ironically, it’s on the sole original, the title track, where the band in all its restrained, swinging power can be best heard, though the rest is striking finger-popping hard bop jazz, with stellar crystalline beauty in the ballads.

(more…)

Read more
%d bloggers like this: