The Squid's Ear
Writing about improvised, contemporary, experimental and unusual music,
following the activities of Squidco...
  •  •  •     Join Our Mailing List!



The Squid's Ear




Heard In

Reviews of artist releases:
cd's, books, magazines, &c.


  Bill Evans Trio 
  At The Village Vanguard 1961 Revisited
  (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records, Ltd.) 


  
   review by John Eyles
  2024-02-13
Bill Evans Trio: At The Village Vanguard 1961 Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records, Ltd.)

The twelve tracks which comprise this live album were recorded across five sets — two afternoon, three evening — at The Village Vanguard in New York City on 25th June 1961. The trio consisting of Bill Evans on piano, Scott LaFaro on double bass and Paul Motian on drums had first recorded together in late December 1959, the resulting studio album Portrait in Jazz being released in 1960, soon followed by Explorations, studio-recorded in February 1961 and released the following month. Six of the Village Vanguard tracks were released as Sunday at The Village Vanguard in October 1961, and six more as Waltz For Debby in March 1962; eventually all twelve were released together in 1973 on The Village Vanguard Sessions. In 2005, the 3-CD box set The Complete Live At The Village Vanguard 1961 included all the afternoon and evening sets in their entirety, and illustrated that the original twelve tracks could not be bettered.

The twelve tracks included one Evans composition, two by LaFaro, two by Miles Davis, with the remainder being from the Great American Song book or jazz standards. Compared to other piano trios of the time (and also some later ones) the success of this one was not solely down to Evans' piano playing but equally to LaFaro and Motian. The understanding and empathy between the three were exemplary. Bass and drums were not in this trio just to keep time (and maybe get an occasional solo) but to be equal partners with Evans. In the main, LaFaro would be in the spotlight as much as Evans, roaming free, with the two often having musical dialogues. Rather than metronomic time-keeping, Motian's subtle patterns did the job without drawing attention away from his bandmates. As ever, the ezz-thetics sound restoration is second to none; however, that restoration did not remove the ambient sounds of the venue so the live atmosphere remains intact.

Tragically, aged twenty-five, LaFaro was killed in a car accident eleven days after the Village Vanguard recording, so the developing rapport between the trio members was nipped in the bud. Thankfully, the Village Vanguard recordings captured the trio in top form and, ever since, the resulting albums have been recognised as some of the best ever recorded, an essential part of any respectable jazz collection.







Comments and Feedback:



More Recent Reviews, Articles, and Interviews @ The Squid's Ear...


The Squid's Ear presents
reviews about releases
sold at Squidco.com
written by
independent writers.

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Derek Bailey/
John Stevens:
The Duke of
Wellington
(Confront)



Paul Dunmall:
Away With
Troubles And Anxieties!
(Discus)



Shifa (
Musson/
Thomas/
Sanders):
Ecliptic
(Discus)



Natsuki Tamura/
Satoko Fujii:
Ki
(Libra)



Borah Bergman/
Anthony Braxton/
Peter Brotzmann:
Eight By Three
(Mixtery)



Hedvig Mollestad Trio:
Bees In
The Bonnet
(Rune Grammofon)



Acid Mothers Temple &
The Melting Paraiso
UFO:
Black Mountain
ide
(Rolling Heads)



Evan Parker/
Bill Nace:
Branches (
Live at Cafe OTO)[VINYL]
(Open Mouth)



Alexander Hawkins/
Taylor Ho Bynum:
A Near Permanent State
Of Wonder
(RogueArt)



Joseph Holbrooke (
w/ Derek Bailey/
Gavin Bryars/
Tony Oxley):
Last Live 2001 -
In Memoriam
Derek Bailey
And
Tony Oxley
[2 CDs]
(Tzadik)



Zeena Parkins:
Modesty Of
The Magic Thing
(Tzadik)



Dave Douglas (
Douglas/
Ridout/
Adewumi/
Brennan/
Pass/
Royston):
Alloy
(Greenleaf Music)



Ivo Pereleman/
Nate Wooley/
Matt Moran/
Mark Helias/
Tom Rainey:
A Modicum
Of the Blues
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)



Angles 11:
Tell Them
It's The Sound Of Freedom
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)



Sifter (
w/ Lisa Mezzacappa):
Flake/
Fracture
(Queen Bee Records)



Jean-Marc Foussat:
Abbatage
(Fou Records)



Chester Hawkins:
Apsis
(Intangible Arts)



Karl Evangelista's Apura +
Andrew Cyrille:
Bukas
(577 Records)



Frode Gjerstad/
Alexander von Schlippenbach/
Dag Magnus Narvesen:
Seven Tracks
(Relative Pitch)



Kaze (
Fujii/
Tamura/
Orins/
Pruvost) with/ Koichi Makigami:
Shishiodoshi
(Circum-Libra)







Squidco
Click here to
advertise with
The Squid's Ear






The Squid's Ear pays its writers.
Interested in becoming a reviewer?




The Squid's Ear is the companion magazine to the online music shop Squidco !


  Copyright © Squidco. All rights reserved. Trademarks. (12451)