Search - Tony Scott :: At Last

A discovery

N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 04/09/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This 2-CD set compiles a couple of LPs released in 1983. They derive from tapes of a 1959 gig with a remarkable band: Tony Scott, Bill Evans, Jimmy Garrison & Pete LaRoca. The sound quality is quite listenable, though scruffy, & the tracks are not always complete (some are faded up or down at the start or end). Yet such considerations are quite minor compared to the fascination of this glimpse of an otherwise undocumented band (& this was a working band, not a one-off). Evans fans will be particularly tickled to hear him tackling bop & blues material that wasn't his usual bag: "Night in Tunisia", "Walkin'", a blues, and "Garrison's Raiders", a line by the bassist based on the "Bebop/Things to Come" changes. There's also the interest of hearing Evans playing a frantically _fast_ version of "Stella by Starlight"; & the bizarre curio of hearing the band play some klezmer music to round off "I'll Remember April". There's also one trio number without Scott, a luminous "Like Someone in Love".Truth be told, I don't find Scott's work on the disc terribly appealing--he's extremely shrill on the faster numbers. But nonetheless this is a worthwhile acquisition for serious admirers of Bill Evans' work. It also gives a better instance of his association with Garrison than the contemporary sessions with Konitz & Marsh at the Half Note (where Evans is in a strangely diffident mood)."