Search - Bill Evans :: Eloquence

Two "sides" of Bill

JayMusic | NJ, United States | 06/15/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Just for the record: four of these tracks are duos with bassist Eddie Gomez, two that never made the "Intuition" album, and two left over from the "Montreaux III" performance. They are of a very high quality. The other five are Bill Evans solo recordings from the sesions that eventually yielded the "Alone Again" album. A bonus is a brief medley of two Cy Coleman tunes, "When In Rome" (which Evans only recorded once, with Tony Bennett) and "It Amazes Me". These were recorded 'live' at the end of a trio date, with just Bill on piano, At Shelly's Manne-Hole in 1973. In the solo studio material we can hear him investigating, probing, running through some tunes he knew well -- though here -- sometimes tenuously. These are obviously tracks not intended for release by the artist. They are not always successful, but they are always fascinating, such was the high caliber of his work. Somewhat uneven as a whole, since it is taken from four different recording situations spanning 1973-75, some live and some studio, but Bill was hardly, if ever, sub-par. Nontheless, it is still a worthwhile insight into the genius of Evans at work."