Search - Bill Evans :: You Must Believe in Spring

Worth the wait

David R. Cohen | Torrance, Ca. | 02/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My 30-year love affair with the music of Bill Evans has a new magical moment. Many of the reviews here and elsewhere are a testimony to this great artist contribution to Jazz. I purchased this album (Vinyl LP), when it was released in 1981. It was always one the albums I came back to no matter what and how life was changing around us. It is simply timeless and beautiful music. The mood it captures is intoxicating and expressionistic. An artist who paints with a piano. Having many of Bill Evans CD's, I never got around to buying the CD version of "spring". Having read back in October that this "new" re-mastered edition would be release around early 2004. I waited. I'm glad I did. Bill Evans fans will be pleased with the sound quality and the labor of love that went into releasing what I consider a perfect recording to begin with. One may argue about the music, (is that possible?), but the quality of the original recording was always excellent. Even when considering it was 1977. In addition, there are 3 "new" tracks that according to the liner notes, were from the original "spring" recording sessions, but never released. Listening to these "new" tracks, and the mood of the original LP, brings some insight into the artist thinking and creativity, the mood the music (in the album) represented. Read the notes by Francis Davis, interesting viewpoint. Eddie Gomez base is captured and given new life as well with Eliot Zigmund percussion. The subtleties are all there, fresh and clear. Drum Roll Please ------- I give this a Five Star, the recording, the re-mastering quality, the consideration and respect for the artist, the joy it will bring us in the years ahead."

A fine 58 minutes, but not the best that's out there...

William E. Adams | Midland, Texas USA | 06/18/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is late-career Evans, recorded three years before his 1980 death and not released on LP until 1981. The original seven tracks are wistful, and the three bonus selections are more upbeat, which is a nice way to end the disc. I don't know if Evans had any influence on choosing the title, but it kind of contradicts the mood of the album. This effort has two compositions by Evans himself, one reflecting on the suicide of his ex-girlfriend, the other on the suicide of his brother. And then he does a neat five-minutes-plus dissection of the theme from M*A*S*H, commonly known as "Suicide is Painless." But we all know that it is not. There is a lot of quiet beauty here, and if you already like Evans, you should have this one. However, I think a better starter kit would be "Sunday at the Village Vanguard" and "Waltz for Debbie", both from 1961, and "The Best of Bill Evans on Verve" which covers the later 1960's. Mr. Evans had much trouble in his life, some of it due to his own heroin and cocaine dependencies, but he made beautiful recordings for nearly 25 years before his death at age 51. Every self-described jazz fan should get to know his work. A tribute poem by Bill Zavatsky is included in this CD booklet, and its first two lines are true, addressed to the recently deceased pianist: "Music your hands are no longer here to make/Still breaks against my ear, still shakes my heart." One wonders why so many artists, singers, musicians and actors whose work makes us ordinary folks happy had lives of quiet, or not so quiet, desperation."

A Great Album, Remastered

B. Wilson | Wilmore, KY | 02/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""You Must Believe in Spring" is a long-established masterpiece in the catalogue of Bill Evans. With one of his least-appreciated trios, he crafted a gem of an album, harkening back to "Moonbeams" and "The Bill Evans Album" in that it works as a unified collection of songs, as opposed to the slapdash compilation of warhorses that is "Trio '65" (which offers its own, different delights).



Evans was one of the few jazz artists who made great albums, in every sense of the word. He had great concepts, and here he put his mind to work, coming up with seven songs that interrelate thematically and emotionally.



The band is woefully underrated: Eddie Gomez at the end of his eleven-year tenure as Bill's bass man, making some of the most sensitive comments of all his recordings with the trio. He had really matured by the time they recorded "I Will Say Goodbye" for Fantasy. His work here is golden, just golden. Eliot Zigmund was one of the percussionists most keyed in with Evans' time sensibilities. He could really break up the tempo and displace accents and rhythms effectively. This was a tight group that should have had a couple more sessions together.



As for the bonus tracks, I am thrilled to death that they were included! True, like the reviewer below stated, they are not thematically in tune with the rest of the album, but why would you not want to hear an exciting trio stretching out at length and playing some great jazz? Indeed, these tracks are some of the closest Evans ever got to jamming late in his career: free-wheeling, uptempo, exciting! AND, you get to hear him play a blues! No complaints here! If you don't like 'em, stop the CD after "Theme from M*A*S*H." That's all there is to it."