Moderators Lee Knight Posted September 19, 2007 Moderators Share Posted September 19, 2007 The album is called Everbody Digs Bill Evans 1 year before Bill Evans played on Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, Bill Evans recorded an album of the most transcendent piano trio music ever. 1958. He managed to transform the concept of "pretty" piano from just cocktail music, to chamber music status. And not just pretty, on fire as well. Rowdy as hell at times too. Breaking traditions and barriers at 200 mph. This album has been re-released in the new Keepnews Collection (The producer) and the playing will have you listening over and over and over. Philly Joe Jones' drumming is so exciting and different. The sound quality of the recording is something modern day engineers should strive for. Awesome all around. Piano in the forefront (unlike Blue) and off slightly to the right in stereo. Drums mic'ed it seems from a good distance not unlike a Tom Waits album. Roomy, trashy, and cool. Off to the left in stereo. And the great, great bass work of Sam Jones straight up the middle. It could've been recorded yesterday. Only better than yesterday. Evans is magic, but the band are as one too. They cook as a team baby. I love all types of music. Some of you here may not be jazz fans per se, but I can tell you, if you buy this CD, and play 2 or 3 times in a row, it will more than likely become a lifetime favorite. Go buy it... you can thank me later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 Oh yeah, Bill Evans was the bomb. For me, the big 1950's jazz piano triumvirate of brilliance was Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson and George Shearing. Of the three, Evans was the most "out there": he'd start with his theme, and gradually turn the theme inside-out into.... something else altogether. He was great; a true genius, like Art Tatum was. Didn't he die young due to some ill-cause? Before the public, I'd most like to play like George Shearing; but in private, for my own pleasure, I'd most like to play like Bill Evans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members joxer96 Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 rasputin, you are probably thinking of Scott Lafaro, Evan's bassist, who died young in an auto accident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted September 19, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted September 19, 2007 LaFaro did die young. Evans went in 1980 due to his love of herion and coke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 LaFaro did die young. Evans went in 1980 due to his love of herion and coke. Let's make that "too soon"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted September 19, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted September 19, 2007 By the way... La Faro's bass work with Evans came later on the famous Vanguard Sessions in '61. But I think I'm digging Bill even more as a relatively unknown player (unknown except by Miles, Adderlly, etc,) in this kick ass disc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 I have that one here smewhere. It is really great. I mean, I'll still take the classic duo in pinch--Waltz for Debby and sunday at the Village Vanguard--but he early stuff is fabulous too. Bill Evans was da man in my house; my father's idol (and my dad was a pretty darn decent amateur jazz pianist). For harmonic improvisation it doesn't and pretty much can't get any better than Bill Evans. Great tunesmith too. Wish he had written more, or recorded more of what he had written... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kendrix Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 His tune "Emily" is transcendent. IMHO it stands above all the other material of his that Im aware of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted September 19, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted September 19, 2007 How about Peace Piece? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkZ Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 I bought this maybe 15-20 years and never thanked Lee. So, Thanks, Lee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 The album is called Everybody Digs Bill Evans 1 year before Bill Evans played on Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, Bill Evans recorded an album of the most transcendent piano trio music ever. 1958. He managed to transform the concept of "pretty" piano from just cocktail music, to chamber music status. And not just pretty, on fire as well. Rowdy as hell at times too. Breaking traditions and barriers at 200 mph. This album has been re-released in the new Keepnews Collection (The producer) and the playing will have you listening over and over and over. Philly Joe Jones' drumming is so exciting and different. The sound quality of the recording is something modern day engineers should strive for. Awesome all around. Piano in the forefront (unlike Blue) and off slightly to the right in stereo. Drums mic'ed it seems from a good distance not unlike a Tom Waits album. Roomy, trashy, and cool. Off to the left in stereo. And the great, great bass work of Sam Jones straight up the middle. It could've been recorded yesterday. Only better than yesterday. Evans is magic, but the band are as one too. They cook as a team baby. I love all types of music. Some of you here may not be jazz fans per se, but I can tell you, if you buy this CD, and play 2 or 3 times in a row, it will more than likely become a lifetime favorite. Go buy it... you can thank me later. Thanks for the tip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 LaFaro did die young. Evans went in 1980 due to his love of herion and coke. Musicians take that stuff?? Oh my. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 And I'm reading the reviews on Amazon and I'm sold. Buy it and tell them Craig's forum sent you. http://www.amazon.com/Everybody-Digs-Bill-Evans-Trio/dp/B000000Y47 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted September 19, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted September 19, 2007 I bought this maybe 15-20 years and never thanked Lee. So, Thanks, Lee. All these years I've been thinkin' unkindly on you too! Then you go and turn it around. Thanks for making it right... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 Check out the Evans originals on Loose Blues -- wicked progressive jazz circa '65 or so, with a quintent and none of the usual suspects. It's Philly Joe, Jim Hall, Ron Carter, Zoot Zims, and Bill. Hate to say 'cause he's another idol, but a pretty young Jim Hall sounds all but overmatched by the material. There are reasons it wasn't realeased until the 90s--along with another quintet record of standards with Hubbard instead of Sims; I forget the name of that one... But that point is, the Evans compositions on Loose Blues are just killer--weird, intricate melodies, even a little bit structurally expansive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 Cool, thanks for the tip!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted September 20, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted September 20, 2007 Check out the Evans originals on Loose Blues -- wicked progressive jazz circa '65 or so, I went searching, read some reviews, and I'll pick it up this weekend. I've never heard of it but it sounds like it might be cool. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jabney Posted September 21, 2007 Members Share Posted September 21, 2007 His tune "Emily" is transcendent. IMHO it stands above all the other material of his that Im aware of. "Emily" is a great tune. I did sound for Johnny Varro & Frank Tate over a year ago and they played "Emily." The song still runs through my brain every now and then. best, john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted September 21, 2007 Members Share Posted September 21, 2007 His tune "Emily" is transcendent. IMHO it stands above all the other material of his that Im aware of. Well, Waltz for Debby, which he wrote as a college student in Louisiana, will always be my favorite... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted September 21, 2007 Members Share Posted September 21, 2007 You know, to be fair, I must admit that the title of that album-- EVERYBODY DIGS BILL EVANS--- may have been a bit off the mark, because, as far as jazz cats went, he was definitely one of the more "out there" and creative... I know people like my own folks could hang with some Oscar Peterson, George Shearing, Dave Brubeck, etc., back in the 1950's and 60's, but I think Evans would've been a little over their heads. Just MHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted September 21, 2007 Members Share Posted September 21, 2007 You know, to be fair, I must admit that the title of that album-- EVERYBODY DIGS BILL EVANS--- may have been a bit off the mark, because, as far as jazz cats went, he was definitely one of the more "out there" and creative... I know people like my own folks could hang with some Oscar Peterson, George Shearing, Dave Brubeck, etc., back in the 1950's and 60's, but I think Evans would've been a little over their heads. Just MHO. My sense is that while he wasn't quite a Brubeck figure in terms of crossover popularity, he was maybe more like a Pat Metheny or Keith Jarrett figure for a while. He was played at a lot of sophisticated cocktail parties and his music was closely associated with certain kinds of wine and clothing. Very popular, very hip in the early '60s with a great deal of mainstream success. In fact, by the late '60s he had already acquired a completely unfair rep as being sort of staid cocktail jazz--becuase his radical genius was so...intropsepctive and subtle. Truth is the mother{censored}er could swing all day long if he wanted to. He wasn't suspect at fast tempos the way that, say, Lyle Mays is... BTW, having seen Brad Mehldau twice in the last two years now, I find his disavowal of the Evans influence utterly laughable. Mehldau is easily one of the most inspired improvisors I have ever, repeat, ever seen--deeply imaginative and unrpredictable--but the stink of Bill Evans is all over him... Peter Pettigrew's biography of Evans is great but ultimately very sad. And My Dad could never quite get over Evans' self-destructiveness... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted September 21, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted September 21, 2007 The title "Everybody Digs..." is actually referring to fellow musicians. If you look closely at the original cover art it has quotes from Miles, Shearing and Cannonball and others going off on Bill. Click on the pic for a gander. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted September 22, 2007 CMS Author Share Posted September 22, 2007 Yeah, he's a really good banjo player and a heck of a nice guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Raymar Posted September 22, 2007 Members Share Posted September 22, 2007 I read an interview with Diana Krall and she mentioned she transcribed Bill Evans tunes in high school(now that's a jazzer). So I was in the library a few years back, found Explorations and ripped it, great timeless laid back trio jazz. He had that short slicked early 60s hair then but the other night I was watching this Tony Bennett special on PBS and there was a segment that featured Tony and Evans on the Tonite show in the 70s and he put on weight, grew his hair out and had breard(actually the same thing happened to me!). Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members joel Oporto Posted September 23, 2007 Members Share Posted September 23, 2007 I have 3 books of bill Evans arrangements for jazz piano and it has been a veritable jazz resource for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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