COVER -> POWERSSOUND
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All right, the arguments could last for days, if not weeks. But before you decide, let me suggest that you listen to a new release that makes a strong argument that Bill Evans should be given the crown.
"The Last Waltz: The Final Recordings" (Milestone Records) documents the pianist's performances at the famed Keystone Korner in San Francisco, September 1980.
Evans, who would die a week afterwards, knew he was near the end. These eight CDs, boxed with excellent notes by Derk Richardson, show that even though he was at the end of life, Evans was determined to make every note count. And he did.
The life of a jazz musician is, as history plainly shows, not an easy one. Evans suffered from poor choices in what he put into his body, which resulted in death making an early pickup. He was just 51.
The publicity materials put together by Milestone are free of the bombast and bragging that often occurs. It's impossible to be too enthusiastic about Evans, whose piano style continues to amaze and confound musicians across the world.
As an innovator often does, Evans sometimes outraged those who wanted to play piano "the old way." Evans wanted to bring out emotions and he worked every moment of his career to improve his skills.
Because Evans sounded "different" to what the norm happened to be in those years, he never attained the renown and honors that should have been his. Perhaps release of this boxed set will cause some to take a new look at this gifted performer.
The package includes 32 different melodies, most of them standards, as well as nine Evans originals. The tapes were culled from eight nights at the former San Francisco landmark. The selections amount to an Evans retrospective, certainly no accident since Evans was well aware that the clock was about to tick for the last time.
Accompanying him on these superb sets were Marc Johnson, bassist, who joined Evans in 1978, and drummer Joe LaBarbara, who came aboard the following year. It's evident that both men were precisely on track with Evan's piano gymnastics.
If you know someone who loves jazz piano, an investment in this incredible collection would make him or her very happy at Christmas.
This is rare: a dying performer gives a spectacular performance. Thank heavens that it was recorded. The next question is: why did it take 20 years to reach the public?
More About Torben
A few weeks ago, I interviewed guitarist Torben Enevoldsen, whose second sans-vocals heavy metal album, "Heavy Persuasion" should receive a respectful hearing around the world, not just in the home base of record company Lion Music, Finland.Enevoldsen plays with skill and emotion on a program of 10 compositions. To those metal haters who profess the genre contains not a whit of melody, I would dare them to listen to this persuasive exercise in power and punishment.
Enevoldsen, who plays all guitars, also did the drum programming on two tracks. Supporting in fine style are bassist Flemming Hansen and drummer Mickey Hurricane (don't you love that name!).
Torben, friend, you are one spectacular performer, overdue for worldwide recognition. And may it come soon.
Trombone Goodies
Chick Corea, perhaps my favorite keyboard artist in the past two decades, has always been generous with his sidemen. Corea's new band, Origin, includes listenable trombonist Steve Davis, whose first album as a leader shows off the work of a likeable young man who believes in the art of understatement."Portrait in Sound" (Stretch Records) is just as advertised. The music generates memories of those wondrous West Coast Jazz years while a young Miles Davis came to the fore. Davis, who's no showoff on his chosen instrument, has composed material that fits right in with those fondly remembered days in the 50s when suddenly California scored big with the more dissonant brand of jazz being performed up and down the East Coast.
Davis gets support in a first-rate manner from vibraphonist Steve Nelson, co-producer Steve Wilson on saxophones.
Others involved in this ear-soothing performance include pianist David Hazelton, bassist Nat Reeves and drummer Joe Farnsworth.
Guesting on two tracks are bassist Avashai Cohen, pianist Brad Mehldau and drummer Jeff Ballard. < P> If you're up late at night and want something soothing to tickle your ears and your fancy, "Portrait in Sound" should work quite well.
More Trombone Goodies
Dan Barrett plays good ole swing trombone, and that means you're in for some pleasant listening sittting down with a copy of "Blue Swing" (Arbors Records) in your CD player.Barrett, who also plays cornet (although not on this CD), has been around for awhile. He worked with Woody Herman and Joey Bushkin, played lead trombone in Benny Goodman's last big band, and toured Europe with Woody Allen's group in 1996.
Playing swing is as easy as a nap in a porch swing, and the resulting music from Barrett and his seven supporting musicians is as inviting as a glass of lemonade on a hot summer's day.
The delicious Rebecca Kilgore (who should be making some albums of her own) does the vocal work and as usual she's simply superb. With a voice that's soft and warm, Kilgore knows her way around a lyric, and inevitably adds something to every song she encounters. She's long overdue for prime time.
The songs selected for "Blue Swing" are not the same old chestnuts that show up on album after album. And it's surprising to hear the swing treatment given to Laura Nyro's "Wedding Bell Blues" and the old rock hit, "Love Potion #9."
This is a fun album that should require many spins.
