BILL EVANS - Evans in England
Resonance Records. HCD-2037
Bill Evans piano, Eddie Gomez bass, Marty Morell drums
Recorded live at Ronnie Scotts, December 1969
‘Evans in England’ is a fascinating album in addition to the music you have rich documentation. Resonance Records always like to regale us with stories about how the found tapes were recorded and rediscovered. For the Evans album we are told about a French fan of Evans who repeatedly took a Uher reel-to-reel tape recorder into Ronnie Scotts, placed it under the stage-side table and recorded the trio. The recorder sat on his knees, hidden under the tablecloth until eventually Bill Evans became aware of what was going on and asked for copies.
The recordings are surprisingly good, the bass of Gomez is treated more favourably than Morell’s drums. However, the drum sound is sometimes harsh and lacks the sensitivity of Motian. Gomez plays with energy and taste, his bass has spring and resonance. The first track ‘Our Love is Here to Stay’ at brisk tempo shows the trio with zest. This trio was the longest lasting of Evans’ career. At this stage of the trio’s life the bassist and drummer could lift the pianist’s spirit and so the melancholic Evans is absent for most of the album.
The group played Scott’s for a month, the recording was made towards the end of the run, so the music has a relaxed feel to it and on the more uninhibited pieces like ‘So What’ has an ebullient drive. ‘My Foolish Heart’ was played on Evans’ earlier albums and it is beautiful. As the music winds forward you can envisage the classic Evans’ pose as he stills the room with his first notes, head bent low over the keyboard, conjuring new music from the keys with Gomez restrained and Morell respectful. The classic Evans performance.
‘Waltz for Debby’ does lose some of its beauty and delicacy. The aggressive contribution from Gomez and its faster tempo does not fit with the tune. ‘What are You Doing the rest of Your Life?’ has introversion and melancholia in its core. Evans inhabits it and refuses to cheapen it by over dramatising. Probably this track is the most typical Evan’s performance on the whole album: you hardly notice the bass and drums whispering in the background.
‘‘Round Midnight’ is one of the most overplayed tunes in the whole of jazz and it is a challenge to create something new. Evans brings subtlety and a well rehearsed tempo change with extended improvisation, never straying too far from the venerable tune. Morell is at his most subtle and Gomez uses his solo space well.
‘Who Can I Turn |To?’spins out for eight minutes giving half of the time to Gomez. Evans eventually takes over in impressive inventive fluent style. The exhilarating tempo change is underpinned by the driving cymbals of Morell making this one of the highlights of the album.
‘Sugar Plum’, an Evans’ original, has its first performance here. It is the longest track and Evans plays solo for the first three minutes before he is joined by Morell and Gomez who is almost as prominent as Evans. The piece apparently has lyrics (not heard here) by John Court who was inspired to write the lyrics after becoming enraptured by a few bars of Evans’ improvisation on ‘Angel Face’. Court created a lyric that went with several repetitions of the notes and with various modulations to create a new piece that Evans was pleased to receive.
There are many Evans albums to choose from but you only have to take a track like ‘My Foolish Heart’ to hear the majesty of the conception and the way that he purifies what is a very sentimental piece to realise that this subtle, talented pianist is irreplaceable. Finally, you give thanks to the anonymous recordist for preserving music that would have disappeared into the memories of those at the club.
One feature of Resonance releases is the quality of the booklets that accompany the albums. This booklet has essays by Zev Feldman who hunted the tapes down and journalist Marc Myers. There are also interviews with Gomez, Morell and filmmaker Leon Terjanian.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Resonance Records. HCD-2037
Bill Evans piano, Eddie Gomez bass, Marty Morell drums
Recorded live at Ronnie Scotts, December 1969
‘Evans in England’ is a fascinating album in addition to the music you have rich documentation. Resonance Records always like to regale us with stories about how the found tapes were recorded and rediscovered. For the Evans album we are told about a French fan of Evans who repeatedly took a Uher reel-to-reel tape recorder into Ronnie Scotts, placed it under the stage-side table and recorded the trio. The recorder sat on his knees, hidden under the tablecloth until eventually Bill Evans became aware of what was going on and asked for copies.
The recordings are surprisingly good, the bass of Gomez is treated more favourably than Morell’s drums. However, the drum sound is sometimes harsh and lacks the sensitivity of Motian. Gomez plays with energy and taste, his bass has spring and resonance. The first track ‘Our Love is Here to Stay’ at brisk tempo shows the trio with zest. This trio was the longest lasting of Evans’ career. At this stage of the trio’s life the bassist and drummer could lift the pianist’s spirit and so the melancholic Evans is absent for most of the album.
The group played Scott’s for a month, the recording was made towards the end of the run, so the music has a relaxed feel to it and on the more uninhibited pieces like ‘So What’ has an ebullient drive. ‘My Foolish Heart’ was played on Evans’ earlier albums and it is beautiful. As the music winds forward you can envisage the classic Evans’ pose as he stills the room with his first notes, head bent low over the keyboard, conjuring new music from the keys with Gomez restrained and Morell respectful. The classic Evans performance.
‘Waltz for Debby’ does lose some of its beauty and delicacy. The aggressive contribution from Gomez and its faster tempo does not fit with the tune. ‘What are You Doing the rest of Your Life?’ has introversion and melancholia in its core. Evans inhabits it and refuses to cheapen it by over dramatising. Probably this track is the most typical Evan’s performance on the whole album: you hardly notice the bass and drums whispering in the background.
‘‘Round Midnight’ is one of the most overplayed tunes in the whole of jazz and it is a challenge to create something new. Evans brings subtlety and a well rehearsed tempo change with extended improvisation, never straying too far from the venerable tune. Morell is at his most subtle and Gomez uses his solo space well.
‘Who Can I Turn |To?’spins out for eight minutes giving half of the time to Gomez. Evans eventually takes over in impressive inventive fluent style. The exhilarating tempo change is underpinned by the driving cymbals of Morell making this one of the highlights of the album.
‘Sugar Plum’, an Evans’ original, has its first performance here. It is the longest track and Evans plays solo for the first three minutes before he is joined by Morell and Gomez who is almost as prominent as Evans. The piece apparently has lyrics (not heard here) by John Court who was inspired to write the lyrics after becoming enraptured by a few bars of Evans’ improvisation on ‘Angel Face’. Court created a lyric that went with several repetitions of the notes and with various modulations to create a new piece that Evans was pleased to receive.
There are many Evans albums to choose from but you only have to take a track like ‘My Foolish Heart’ to hear the majesty of the conception and the way that he purifies what is a very sentimental piece to realise that this subtle, talented pianist is irreplaceable. Finally, you give thanks to the anonymous recordist for preserving music that would have disappeared into the memories of those at the club.
One feature of Resonance releases is the quality of the booklets that accompany the albums. This booklet has essays by Zev Feldman who hunted the tapes down and journalist Marc Myers. There are also interviews with Gomez, Morell and filmmaker Leon Terjanian.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
