Bill Evans's Waltz

I was going through my Jazz piano albums and I really wanted to hear some Bill Evans.  His piano playing is like no other.  What prompted my search was an article on Scott LaFaro.  The article takes about how well all three of these players including Paul Motian on the album were almost like psychic.  The talked about how important Scott's bass playing was very cool and very much laid back. I continued reading the article as they talked about the moment that these three would play was like watching Moses part the Red Sea or something.  What really got this going was remembering my friend and mentor who was at these shows in June of 61.  We had countless conversations about Bill and Scott and Paul.  As I told my mentor I would have loved to be in the audience watching these three change the world upside down.  My mentor mentioned that these shows made him speechless and all other Jazz performances had to reach the hight this one had. When I often hit the Village Vanguard I try to remember many classic performances, this one is one I really wish I had a ringside seat to watch such genius in action.  

When I told you about Brad Mehldau and how it evoked my friend thinking of Bill Evans it got me thinking how important Bill Evans is. Bill Evans is one of my favorite Piano players and hearing him on Miles Davis's Kind Of Blue you can hear why I like him so much. Over the course of my first year at my community college I heard more and more Bill Evans. My Jazz teacher talked about him like he was a god. To me I knew very little of this "god" and wanted to find out more about him. He would play for us Bill Evans music all the time and describe the effortless sound that he would play the piano. It was like we were floating on air. I took out a compilation of his music from the college library and listened with serious intent.

I heard a lot more I wanted to hear without the teacher telling us about him. I read the notes inside on how they described Bill Evans as a pianist that all others would talk in high regard. Even reading other people's CD's they would talk about Bill Evans as the man that inspired them to pick up an instrument or play the piano. Tony Bennett was once interviewed and was asked about Bill Evans and was said that he was the best piano player he ever worked with. Well that got me thinking I should listen to him more and more.

I bought a few of his CD's and brought them home to listen to. My father told me that he thought Bill Evans was one of the greatest out there, but I should ask my uncle the Jazz buff about him. My dad said he saw him play a few times in his career. A moment If I could go back and ask more about Bill Evans to him I would. Now I know a lot more about his groups, his playing with Miles Davis and Tony Bennett and the great Jim Hall and of course his classic trio of Paul Motian and Scott LaFaro. Of course the tragedy of his career being a heroin addict. Those are the questions I would ask my uncle. I did have a chance to ask my uncle about Bill Evans, but never got those serious questions answered. I did ask the simple question of what he thought of Bill Evans. My uncle told me that Bill Evans by far was the piano player that every piano player should be and more. That pretty much answered what I needed to hear.

Left to Right: Scott LaFaro, Bill Evans and Paul Motian.

I would listen to him pretty religiously and always wanted to hear more of his material. Just before I went back to school in 2000 I bought a copy of his Biography. This book went in better detail then anything else I have ever read about him. It was one of the more interesting musical biographies in my collection. It tells the story not only of his life, but about his session work with Miles Davis and his solo material and why his choice of Paul Motian and Scott LaFaro. He once was interviewed and he said those are his favorite people to work with. The most intriguing fact about Bill was about his drug use and the fact that he knew he was going to die from it. He would play a song we all know called "Suicide is Painless" and it drew some attention to him and his use of drugs. Once in a while I hear him playing it on a CD that I own and it get's me thinking if he was still around playing what would he be listening to or performing.

If you are wondering if this is a Jazz CD that you should own; it is an essential album in everyone's collection. Bill Evans was a great piano player that is talked about by every Jazz buff there is. He is a piano player I tell people that in the same breath as Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, Andrew Hill and Brad Mehldau and of course many great others. Since I am a fan of Bill Evans work I have more then enough of his stuff. Bill is someone that had a great piano career and I hope this is the start of your Jazz collection or just added to a good Jazz collection you already own. Enjoy!