Essential Standards

by Thom JurekThis new collection of Bill Evans playing standards is culled from his Riverside catalog. The first half concentrates on the first and greatest Bill Evans Trio with drummer Paul Motian and bassist Scott LaFaro, running through beautiful renditions of "Autumn Leaves," "Isn't It Romantic," and "My Foolish Heart," taken from the At Shelly's Mann-Hole date, "All of You" from Sunday at the Village Vanguard, and "How Deep Is the Ocean." The material on the second half of the album covers Evans in various settings including three trios. The first is from 1956 with Teddy Kotick on New Jazz Conceptions (which was pre-LaFaro), and with Sam Jones and Max Roach on Everybody Digs Bill Evans. The other trio sessions are the first post-LaFaro dates with new bassist Chuck Israels from 1962: How My Heart Sings! and Moonbeams. The remainder of the material is from a pair of recordings that include 1961's You Know What I Mean with Cannonball Adderley, Connie Kay, and Percy Heath of the Modern Jazz Quartet, and the famous Interplay Sessions recorded in 1962 with Freddie Hubbard, Philly Joe Jones, Jim Hall, and Kay. Everything here has been released before, and real Evans' fans have it all in numerous places. There is something to be said, however, for having an all-standards program that reveals the developing and always innovative approach Evans was taking to interpreting classic American song in the jazz idiom.