Articles

Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.

ALBUM REVIEW December 3, 2020

Bill Evans: Bill Evans Live at Ronnie Scott's

Read "Bill Evans Live at Ronnie Scott's" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

The emergence of Bill Evans as one of the jazz world's preeminent pianists was propelled by a unmistakeable style: a pensive note striking with harmonic transpositions resulting in unique voicings. This 1968 recording marks the fifth collaboration between Resonance Records and the Bill Evans Estate to bring previously unreleased material into the public domain. This 2xLP limited edition in a gatefold sleeve was co-produced by Zev Feldman of Resonance and Jack DeJohnette and was beautifully mastered by Bernie Grundman. This ...

ALBUM REVIEW December 1, 2020

Bill Evans: Bill Evans Live at Ronnie Scott's

By Troy Dostert

All fans of Bill Evans, and piano trio enthusiasts generally, owe a huge debt of gratitude to Resonance Records, which over the last decade has released a formidable series of Evans discs featuring previously unreleased material (unless you count bootlegs). Beginning with Live at Art D'Lugoff's Top of the Gate in 2012, showcasing Evans' trio with bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty Morrell, the pace really quickened several years later, when Some Other Time: The Lost Session from the Black ...

ALBUM REVIEW November 29, 2020

Bill Evans: Bill Evans Live at Ronnie Scott's

By Franz A. Matzner

Bill Evans: Live At Ronnie Scott's brings to mind the phrase “on the shoulders of giants." Evans's stature in jazz history is unassailable, his influence having touched much of the music's subsequent trajectories, while also establishing a new, discernable branch of the jazz tree traceable to the present-day. A two-disc package, Bill Evans: Live at Ronnie Scott's captures the relatively brief trio configuration of Eddie Gomez and Jack DeJohnette in the natural setting of a live club performance.

RADIO December 19, 2019

We Got the Skilz to Play the Billz

By Patrick Burnette

William, oh William, it was really nothing—but an all—Bill all the time podcast! At Mike's suggestion, this round's musicians are all named Bill. Heck, half of them are white guys named Bill Evans who gigged with Miles Davis. How's that for homogeneity? Don't fret—the other Bills at this party bring heavy-gauge avant credentials to balance things out. Pop matters swerves all over the road, ranging from The Negro Problem to Shaun Colvin. Playlist Discussion of Bill Evans' ...

RADIO October 1, 2019

The Piano Trios – Erroll Garner, Ahmad Jamal, and Bill Evans (1955 - 1961)

By Russell Perry

While there were influential piano trios in the 1940s (lead by Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Lennie Tristano, or Nat King Cole, for example), the format reached new peaks in the 1950s. In particular, Ahmad Jamal} and {{Bill Evans reconceived the format to stress the interplay of three artists, rather than a primary piano soloist with rhythm support. In this hour, we will hear from these pianists and from Erroll Garner, the work of each represented by a legendary live recording--Garner's ...

RADIO September 13, 2019

Bill Evans @ 90 and Day 3 "Bitches Brew"

By Marc Cohn

We start with 21st century music from guitarist Dave Stryker (coming to Southern Louisiana in October; heads up, y'all:), Geri Allen, David Weiss, Zhenya Strigalev and the Hi-Fly Orchestra. It's pianist Bill Evans birthday. Were he alive today, he would be celebrating his 90th. We have him at the Vanguard with his last trio, in a duo with guitarist Jim Hall, and a neglected session with flautist Jeremy Steig. We finish our 50th anniversary of Miles Davis' “Bitches Brew" with ...

MULTIPLE REVIEWS August 13, 2019

Resonance Records: The Art of the Sampler

By Geno Thackara

Resonance Records is a refreshing success story in the modern jazz world, still happily defying the norms of the streaming age with unflagging class and style. Even familiar listeners can lose sight of what a catalogue of material they've gathered, which is where 2019's handful of budget samplers come in. Co-president Zev Feldman declares that he's “always looking for ways to introduce the world to Resonance's records—both historical issues and also our tremendous current artists." With a snazzy set of ...