Jim Witzel Quartet: Very Early (Remembering Bill Evans)

While tributes to pianist Bill Evans have certainly not been in short supply over the years, he has unsurprisingly been given far more attention by pianists than from other instrumentalists. Efforts from guitarists have been particularly rare. There are some noteworthy exceptions: John McLaughlin took a stab at it in 1993 with Time Remembered (Verve) alongside three other guitarists, for example, and John Abercrombie worked with pianist Andy LaVerne on Timeline (Steeplechase, 2003) in an homage to Undercurrent (Blue Note, 1962), Evans' stellar session with guitarist Jim Hall. Now veteran guitarist Jim Witzel has teamed with his frequent partner, pianist Phil Aaron, along with bassist Dan Feiszli and drummer Jason Lewis, to offer his own tribute, and it provides plenty of savory moments for both Evans afficionados and casual fans alike.

Of the album's nine tracks, the only two Evans compositions are the title track, "Very Early," one of Evans' gorgeous ballads, and "Peri's Scope," given a bossa-nova-like treatment. But there are plenty of the pieces Evans put his inimitable stamp upon, such as Miles Davis' "Nardis" and Earl Zindars' "How My Heart Sings." To its credit, the quartet avoids facile imitation of Evans, choosing rather to present an affectionate rendering of these tunes in its own hard-swinging style. As this is a group which has worked together since Witzel's Breaking Through Gently (Joplin & Sweeney, 2023), the musicians have a steady affinity that serves the music well, as on Victor Young's "Beautiful Love," the tune of which is sketched in a lovely rubato by Witzel before the band joins him with a spirited take that makes room for well-structured solos by the leader and Aaron before Feiszli and Lewis trade eights.

A subtle muscularity anchors much of the quartet's work. The band is locked in tight for the medium-tempo numbers like "Solar," the album's other Davis piece, or John Carisi's "Israel," the latter of which highlights Aaron's nimble keyboard work alongside Feiszli and Lewis, their close interactions bringing to mind Evans' telepathic exchanges with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian in Evans' first immortal trio. Steve Swallow's "Falling Grace" also possesses a surging energy, with both Witzel and Aaron digging into the incisive groove established by Feiszli and Lewis. But the group's chemistry on the ballads is no less evident, with Leonard Bernstein's "Some Other Time" given an especially poignant reading, as both the pianist and the guitarist trace the piece's lyrical contours with skill and sensitivity. And "Very Early" is another charmer, with Evans' waltz melody shining brightly via Witzel's crystalline delivery.

This will hardly be the last of the Evans tributes we can expect to see in the years to come. But it is a fine one, and Witzel and colleagues are to be commended for recognizing the pianist's artistry with such dedication and integrity.