Wow. I just stumbled on this. Bill looks healthy and cool with his natural shoulder ivy league suit and haircut amd his playing is strong. I saw him years later at shellys mannehole in hollywood after scott lafaros passing and he looked thin and frail because of his heroin addiction.
Barry Galbraith gave me the guitar parts to this album. Real challenging, Barry told me he only had three days to get the entire album down. Very few players could have pulled this off. Barry and I had a weekly sight reading class at Allen Hanlon guitar studio in NY. Barry had an amazing amount of guitar music to read. Hardest I have ever played. I miss Barry. He was a great artist one of the best. I miss playing his Back Inventions with him. That is Barry on guitar. Mike Caruso
Rare footage of Bill's, not yet devastated by addiction- painfully thin, with swollen hands and bad teeth as he would present himself after a few years. And notice how large and handsome his hands were, perfect for a pianist!
Thanks for posting this - Great to hear, and also to get a glimpse of Barry Galbraith. I studied for a while w/Barry towards the end of his life, and he would give students things to work on reading - if you were a good reader he'd challenge you by giving you George Russell parts. Nice man, always enjoyed the time with him...
+Chris Lopes Good ears! Right indeed! Check out George Russell, who is the composer of this piece and a long time Evans collaborator (along with other giants like Eric Dolphy, Don Ellis, Dave Baker, on and on). Russell developed this unique completel re-write of harmony and tonality which he called the "Lydian Concept of Tonal Organization" and it drives that incredible sound you're picking up on. The people who consider Russell, who just recently passed away after a long tenure at New Englad Conservatory, a mentor is virtually a who's who of modern jazz -- and his collaborations with Evans are, well, out of this world!
Fascinating. In retrospect this could have been theme music for a movie or tv show of that era. Like Peter Gunn. Bill Evans was a fully classically trained piano major in college.
Yes, very similar to the music on "Modern Art," with Art Farmer, who is playing trumpet in this video, and Bill Evans. The opening riff on the tune "Modern Art" is classic 1960s theme song perfection!
Fantastic. But the band was definitely struggling with some of the sight reading. Listen to 1'24 and 2'41". If you know this song well, you know that there's some fudging. However, it's an incredibly hard composition to play. Also, Evans's solo isn't his best on this tune. There's a classic version where he plays so perfectly... one of the greatest solos in the history of jazz, maybe. So, I guess holding him to that standard-- even one he set himself-- isn't very fair. Evans was such a magician!
This is genius from the first bar to final chord. I prefer it even to Copeland's piece by the same name. Although the host says it was written for Evans and not the cowboy Kid, this jazz concerto seems to evoke rustling up a stubborn herd of cattle or stealing a couple horses parked outside a saloon (the real Billy the Kids preferred crimes)...btw, Death by hanging or shootout was the sentence for horsestealing in the Old West, hence the ominous tone throughout !
Billy the Kid, the faster, not in the West, but only on PIANO! Bill Evans was pure Genius!!!
Just incredible.
Wow. I just stumbled on this. Bill looks healthy and cool with his natural shoulder ivy league suit and haircut amd his playing is strong. I saw him years later at shellys mannehole in hollywood after scott lafaros passing and he looked thin and frail because of his heroin addiction.
Barry Galbraith gave me the guitar parts to this album. Real challenging, Barry told me he only had three days to get the entire album down. Very few players could have pulled this off.
Barry and I had a weekly sight reading class at Allen Hanlon guitar studio in NY.
Barry had an amazing amount of guitar music to read. Hardest I have ever played. I miss Barry. He was a great artist one of the best. I miss playing his Back Inventions with him.
That is Barry on guitar. Mike Caruso
You can see how focused he is ha, that's a cool story thank you for sharing.
wow! like to see that.
Rare footage of Bill's, not yet devastated by addiction- painfully thin, with swollen hands and bad teeth as he would present himself after a few years. And notice how large and handsome his hands were, perfect for a pianist!
Fabulous, fantastch
Jazz at this tempo boosts my day! This is a great composition performed well. Lovely. Thanks for sharing.
Bill Evans is improvising on the chords of "I'll Remember April"....
Great music of this period had an equal measure of thought and emotion.I' m not so sure about today's.
Brilliant.
Thanks for posting this - Great to hear, and also to get a glimpse of Barry Galbraith. I studied for a while w/Barry towards the end of his life, and he would give students things to work on reading - if you were a good reader he'd challenge you by giving you George Russell parts. Nice man, always enjoyed the time with him...
Ah.......absolutely fabulous!!!! Thank you for this!
Come off it. That long passage by Bill Evans starting about 3.30 using right hand only,....staggering.
AMAZING¡¡¡¡¡¡ gREAT, bILL eVANS, gEORGE rUSSUEL, aRT fARMER Y bARRY gALBRAIGHT , TODOS UNOS FENOMENOS. cHAPÓ
fabulous. very unique evans. please help me with the other musicians' names...
Looks Art Farmer, on Trumpet.
Bill .... the king!
Bill Evans plays like Bill Evans!!!
Amazing! This sound like it was played and written by men from outer space, but there they are-earthlings!
+Chris Lopes Good ears! Right indeed! Check out George Russell, who is the composer of this piece and a long time Evans collaborator (along with other giants like Eric Dolphy, Don Ellis, Dave Baker, on and on). Russell developed this unique completel re-write of harmony and tonality which he called the "Lydian Concept of Tonal Organization" and it drives that incredible sound you're picking up on. The people who consider Russell, who just recently passed away after a long tenure at New Englad Conservatory, a mentor is virtually a who's who of modern jazz -- and his collaborations with Evans are, well, out of this world!
Both comments are exactly right and beautiful!
Fascinating. In retrospect this could have been theme music for a movie or tv show of that era. Like Peter Gunn. Bill Evans was a fully classically trained piano major in college.
Yes, very similar to the music on "Modern Art," with Art Farmer, who is playing trumpet in this video, and Bill Evans. The opening riff on the tune "Modern Art" is classic 1960s theme song perfection!
sounds like I'll remember April chords
bingo
Fantastic. But the band was definitely struggling with some of the sight reading. Listen to 1'24 and 2'41". If you know this song well, you know that there's some fudging. However, it's an incredibly hard composition to play. Also, Evans's solo isn't his best on this tune. There's a classic version where he plays so perfectly... one of the greatest solos in the history of jazz, maybe. So, I guess holding him to that standard-- even one he set himself-- isn't very fair. Evans was such a magician!
This is genius from the first bar to final chord. I prefer it even to Copeland's piece by the same name. Although the host says it was written for Evans and not the cowboy Kid, this jazz concerto seems to evoke rustling up a stubborn herd of cattle or stealing a couple horses parked outside a saloon (the real Billy the Kids preferred crimes)...btw, Death by hanging or shootout was the sentence for horsestealing in the Old West, hence the ominous tone throughout !
it's Evans though.