Search - Bill Evans :: Crosscurrents

The Problem with Genius

Stephen Silberman | SF, CA USA | 02/17/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The problem with genius is that if you give this album five stars, what do you give the Village Vanguard sessions with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian -- 500?Because this is Bill Evans playing, friends, it's going to be worth five of anyone else's stars; but on his own terms -- and, frankly, and Konitz and Marsh's own terms -- it's a mediocre session that leaves this listener oddly unsettled. Konitz's astoundingly fertile lyricism sounds crimped by the arrangements here, and the horns are strangely unappealing-sounding. Evans' biographer believes that's because the horns are sharp and out of tune.For this period in his career -- which is, alas, much less interesting than either the LaFaro or Chuck Israels periods, *or* the final trios with Marc Johnson -- Evans is giving it the old college try, playing a little brighter than he was in his by-then ruts with the otherwise fabulous Eddie Gomez. But I come away from this album depressed, rather than uplifted. Evans sounds like he's going through the motions with enthusiasm. I'd rather hear him on the terrifying edge of discovery."

Overlooked Gem

Steven Katz | 01/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Bill Evans lyrical quality and versatility gains added expression with Crosscurrents as Lee Konitz adds a dimension to the Evans melodic lines that only someone who was on Bill Evans' wavelength could have mastered. It is important that this was a release that Bill Evans wanted to release during his lifetime, and therefore must have appreciated the Evans-Konitz connection on the album. This also become obvious when you compare the difference between an album like Crosscurrents and the posthumous release of Evans and Stan Getz."