Bill Evans Project
by Leonardo Barroso
This CD is one of my favorites in my jazz collection, not only is a wonderful tribute to Bill Evans, with all 13 tracks written by Bill, but a great trio. Together with Andrea Dulbecco-vibes and Bebo Ferra-guitar. this is one CD you must hear, if a Evans fan or not, this one is Italy's best!
Danish Radio Orchestra with Jim McNeely
Plays Bill Evans
by David R. AdlerBill Evans' compositions have been interpreted in countless ways through the years, but not so often by big bands. Who better than Jim McNeely, a fine pianist and one of jazz's most imaginative arrangers, to glean fresh insights from Evans' music? Leading the fine players of the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra, McNeely sets his sights on some of Evans' strongest melodies, and he consistently finds new angles. The latent dissonance of "Very Early" is fully apparent when the interval-leaping line is placed over a pedal point, or the final B major 7th chord, for instance. There are other surprising touches, like the half-time tag that breaks up "Waltz for Debby"; the climactic shout choruses (and orchestrated Bill Evans solo) in "Show-Type Tune"; the medley-style juxtaposition of "Twelve-Tone Tune" and "Twelve-Tone Tune Two"; and the jarring burst of a chord that ends "Turn Out the Stars," gradually fading to close out the album. Lead trombonist Vincent Nilsson arranged the one piece not composed by Bill Evans: "Theme for Scotty/Gloria's Step" combines Clare Fischer's requiem for Scott LaFaro with a stormy reading of LaFaro's most famous tune, which remained in Evans' repertoire long after the bassist's untimely death. Tenor saxophonist Tomas Franck, one of the album's more prominent soloists, gives "Blue in Green" an unusually turbulent, quasi-"out" arrangement. Other outstanding performers include bassist Thomas Ovesen and flügelhornist Henrik Bolberg Pedersen.
Kronos Quartet
Music of Bill Evans
by Scott Yanow
For their second and final jazz project, the adventurous Kronos Quartet (a top classical string quartet) performed eight Bill Evans compositions, plus "Nardis" (which Evans always claimed Miles Davis stole from him). Three songs apiece add either guitarist Jim Hall or bassist Eddie Gomez. The members of Kronos (David Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and cellist Joan Jeanrenaud) do not improvise, but they expertly play Tom Darter's arrangements, some of which (particularly "Peace Piece") are transcriptions of pianist Evans' solos. Overall this was an intriguing project, as was Kronos' slightly earlier interpretations of Thelonious Monk tunes.
John McLaughlin
Time Remembered
by Scott Yanow
Pianist Bill Evans was one of guitarist John McLaughlin's early heroes so this Evans tribute seemed like a logical idea. Sticking to acoustic guitar, McLaughlin is joined by four other guitarists (along with the acoustic bass guitar of Yann Maresz) to create an unusual instrumentation that often sounds as full as a keyboard. The leader arranged ten of Evans's compositions and his own "Homage" for a largely introverted set of music that has a strong classical feel. McLaughlin lets loose a few times but more mood and tempo variations would have kept this from being such a sleepy and overly respectful session.
Tierney Sutton
Blue In Green
by Ken Dryden
There have been a number of tributes to Bill Evans since the pianist's death in 1980, including a few by singers. But this CD by Tierney Sutton (only her third as a leader) is not only wide-ranging in its scope, as it draws songs from throughout his career, but the often innovative arrangements bring a freshness to the music. Sutton doesn't resort to loud theatrics but swings hard when necessary while focusing on the melody, and also gives her supporting trio (pianist Christian Jacob, bassist Trey Henry, and drummer Ray Brinker) space to play. Evans' songs include a haunting "Blue in Green" (a modal gem credited to Miles Davis but claimed by the pianist as his work) with a touching lyric by Meredith d'Ambrosio, the mournful "Turn Out the Stars," a magical deliberate take of "Very Early," and an enticing medley of two of Evans' ballads written in honor of two young ladies, "Waltz for Debby" (for his niece) and "Tiffany" (for drummer Joe LaBarbera's infant daughter, who later composed the lyrics to this song as a teenager; Joe takes over the drums on this one song). The brisk "Autumn Leaves" is given a dramatic facelift with some fine scatting by Sutton and a wonderful reworking of the chord structure, and the calypso-flavored introduction to "Someday My Prince Will Come" is a high point, too. Ken Wild takes over on bass for the enchanting piano-less arrangement of "Sometime Ago," playing an ostinato pattern and supplying a soft backing scat vocal on this catchy chart. This outstanding release by Tierney Sutton should be considered an essential acquisition by fans of jazz singers and music associated with or written by Bill Evans.
No comments:
Post a Comment