Calvin H. Neal, Jr.
July 9, 2017
Sunday June 25, 1961 will always hold a special place in
my heart. That summer day, when I was only four years old, was the afternoon
that pianist Bill Evans and his trio of Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on
drums, recorded what some believe to be the most incredible live session of
piano trio jazz ever. The two albums that originally came from this performance
at New York’s famed Village Vanguard, Sunday
At The Village Vanguard and Waltz For
Debby, (with the title track named for his niece, which is perhaps Evans’
most endearing and enduring composition) are without question the epitome of
its genre. Evans’ handling of the repertoire was tender, eloquent, lyrical and still
full of fire. LaFaro, whose unfortunate death only a few weeks following the
performance, on July 6, at the age of only 25, in an automobile accident,
showed that the bass could do more than walk or just offer support. LaFaro’s
playing that June afternoon was a revelation. As for Paul Motian, his sensitive
stick and brushwork are absolutely masterful.
Now, nearly 40 years after his death, Bill Evans has been
the most influential jazz pianist of the past two generations. From Herbie
Hancock, Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett to Brad Mehldau the influence of Bill
Evans’ elegantly beautiful, lyrical style can still be heard today.
William John Evans was born on August 16, 1929 in
Plainfield New Jersey, to a father of Welsh origin and a mother, whose family
was Russian. Evans, on a flute
scholarship, followed his brother Harry to Southeastern Louisiana University.
While at the Hammond, Louisiana campus, Bill displayed his athletic prowess by
quarterbacking his intramural mural football team to the school’s championship. After graduating college in 1950, Evans did
a stint in the Army, before attending Mannes College of Music in the mid
1950’s. Evans played with the bands of Jerry Wald, Lucy Reed, Tony Scott and
George Russell before his legendary union with Miles Davis.
“It may have been
that Miles [Davis] found a sympathetic ally in me for something that was lying
latent in himself, too. And with my presence there as a pianist, which directed
a sort of a flavor of what's happening, he knew that we would be able to create
this thing.
- Bill Evans (Schenker, 2008)
Davis’ group then featured John Coltrane, Julian
“Cannonball” Adderley, Paul Chamber and Jimmy Cobb. Evans was integral in the
making of what is arguably the greatest jazz album…ever, Kind Of Blue. Evans’ importance is detailed by Bruce Spiegel,
producer of the documentary, Bill Evans:
Time Remembered,
“..his contribution
(to Kind Of Blue) was big, a lot bigger than people realize. If you look at two
of the tracks on the album, “Flamenco Sketches and “Blue In Green” was a song
that was attributed to Miles Davis that was actually written by Bill Evans, ok?
The other composition was “Flamenco Sketches”, which was basically based on
Bill’s song “Peace Piece” from “Everybody Digs Bill Evans.” (Simon, 2017)
But Bill Evans is also known for creating the blueprint
for what a piano/bass/drums jazz trio should be. With bassist Scott LaFaro and
drummer Paul Motian, Evans delivered some of the most beautiful must starting
in the hard bop era until Evans’ death in 1980. Definitively described by All
Music.com’s Richard S. Ginnell as, “three way telepathic trialogues”, the
interplay and simpatico that Evans, LaFaro and Motian achieved has to this day
remained unmatched. From the trio’s initial release, Portrait In Jazz, in 1959 to 1961’s Explorations the growth and melding of the minds of this
groundbreaking trio was obvious.
And the June 25, 1961 sessions at The Village
Vanguard, remain THE sessions of piano trio and one of the definitive sessions
of the hard bop era. When LaFaro was killed in a single car crash in July 1961,
Evans was totally crushed and considered never playing again. “I didn’t realize
how it affected me right away”, Evans said. “Musically everything seemed to
stop. I didn’t even play at home.” (Pettinger, 1998)
But he regrouped and in May and June of 1962, he and
drummer Motian went into the studio with bassist Chuck Israels and recorded two
albums worth of music, “Moonbeams”,
which was Evans first all ballad l.p., and the lively “How My Heart Sings”. These sessions, recorded May 17, 29 &
June 2 & 5, 1962 at Sound Masters studios in New York City, showed that
Evans was indeed back with a very viable trio. Israels showed LaFaro the
ultimate respect by not attempting to imitate him, but proved to be quite a
force himself.
Other bassists who worked with Evans’ trio include Eddie Gomez,
who was with Evans for 11 years, Monty Budwig, a short stay from Gary
Peacock and Marc Johnson. Evans also recorded with legendary musicians bassist Ron Carter,
trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, alto sax man Lee Konitz, drummer Philly Joe Jones,
singer Tony Bennett and had monumental success in a duo with guitar giant Jim
Hall.
Pianist Peter Pettinger penned a brilliant biography of
Evasns, 1998’s Bill Evans: How My Heart
Sings, Yale University Press. Pettinger’s book is a must for not only fans
of Evans, but all jazz fans. Tormented by heroin and later cocaine addiction
for most of his career, Evans died September 15, 1980 in New York City of
bronchial pneumonia and a bleeding ulcer.
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