Bill Evans: In Norway

Pianist Bill Evans' career lasted from the late 1950s until his passing in 1980, but beginning around about 20 years into the 21st century CD releases under Evan's name have been rolling along at a brisk clip, thanks to the Resonance, Elemental and Ess- thetics Record labels. Zev Feldman, often called "The Jazz Detective," has played a big part in this steady release of mostly laudable recordings, uncovering lost or shelved tapes of Evan's concerts, resulting in albums like Bill Evans in England (2019), Live At Ronnie Scotts (2020), Behind The Dikes (2021), Inner Spirit (2022) andMorning Glory (2022), all on Resonance Records.

With In Norway, recorded at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in 1970, the trio offers a standard Bill Evans show. For those familiar with the Evans songbook, there are no surprises here. "Come Rain or Come Shine," "What Are You Doing For the Rest of Your Life," "Emily" and "Some Other Time" are included in the song list. Evan is consistently superb, and his sidemen are the members of his 'Second Great Trio," bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty Morrell.

With so much top-notch Bill Evans music coming out in the five years before the release of In Norway, a comparison seems in order. While many of these albums are excellent—Behind the Dikes (review here), and some are even essential, like Elemental Music's 2023 release Treasures (review here), a couple fall short by Bill Evans' high standards. Live At Ronnie Scott's is, due to poor sound quality, unlistenable; and In Norway suffers, in an otherwise solid offering, from too many extended bass solos. These, lasting more than a minute each, break the mood of Evan's beautiful lyricism, the harmonic beauty and the delicate threads of the melody. The visuals of a bass solo in a live setting have their merits, but on record—especially when extended—they slow the flow.

Still, this is Bill Evans and his Second Great Trio, in fine form, with fine sound quality. In Norway can be counted as essential for complete-ists. A good listening experience, but it does not rise to the status of a top Bill Evans pick.