You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - Bill Evans and The Trio That Changed Trios

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

Can you believe the most celebrated Bill Evans Trio was only together for 18 months? In this episode, we’re looking at early 60's Bill alongside Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian, and the four albums they recorded together before LaFaro’s tragic death at just 25 years old. From Portrait in Jazz and its cross-over with Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue through Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debbie – recorded live on the same day in June 1961. We break down their conversational approach to jazz standards like “Autumn Leaves,” geek out over Bill Evans music theory, and explore his distinct voicings and voice leading techniques. Whether you’re a mid-century jazz aficionado or just looking for the perfect “sweater weather trio songs to somberly study to,” we’ve got just the playlist for you.🟠 Open Studio Members -> Nerd NookABOUT OPEN STUDIO------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------As the premier online jazz education platform, with an ever-expanding course library and 20,000+ members, Open Studio (OS) has everything you need to excel and thrive on your jazz journey.Featuring everything from beginner to advanced lessons, engaging courses from A-list instructors, step-by-step curriculum, real-time classes and a thriving and incredibly supportive community, OS is the perfect platform to level up your jazz playing, whether you’re a total beginner, or an advanced pro-level improvisor.Try OS Membership today! → https://osjazz.link/aboutAll about YHIhttps://lnk.to/youllhearitYB

Hey Peter. What's up? You know, we're celebrating the six-year anniversary, the Adam Manus Trio. I did know that. I meant to tell you. Congrats, bro. Thank you. You have a trio, too, yeah?

I do. How long you y'all been together? Well, it's like 11, 12 years? You know, not that long. It's a long time. Oh, it is? You know, the trio with Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro, and Paul Motion. Yeah.

They were together for... You ready for this? I love that trio, by the way, but yes, how long? 18 months. What? Are you serious? I'm serious. All that great music?

All that great great. All those great records? Okay, I got to hear about this. And I'm Peter Barton. And you're listening to the You'll Hear It Podcast. Music Explored. Explored. Brought to you today by Open Studio.

Go to Open Studio jazz.com for, oh. Your jazz lesson needs. Say Peter. Sheepish. Sheepishly. I'm going double stroke. Double stroke roll.

Which fingers. I don't want to brag, but... That's braggadocious of you. Man, This sheet has been put in front of me. I'm excited because it says Bill at the top. What Bill is this? Bill Levens.

L-E-V-E-E... No, Bill Evans, of course. Today we're talking about the Bill Evans trio. We're specifically talking about the game-changing trio. I thought you were about to say we're spitting rhymes about... We could do that, too. We were trying to do that. We can put a little beat behind that in artist just now.

Oh, come on. No, we're talking about the trio with Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro, and Paul Motion. Yes. They were together from 1959, late-1959, to early 1961. They recorded four albums together, and they were... How's that possible? I don't know. In that 18 months,

they were one of the most influential jazz trios in the history of the music, and it was cut short when bassist, Scott LaFaro, was killed in a car accident when he was just 25 years old. Yeah. And we're going to talk about that. We're going to talk about the four albums that really put this trio in sort of this legendary status.

Portrait and Jazz. Exploration. Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debbie. And we're going to lead up to that Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debbie because both of those albums were recorded on June 25th, 1961, at the Village Vanguard. That's a Sunday. So two of the most influential jazz trio albums, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, Waltz for Debbie, recorded on the same day, and 10 days later, Scott LaFarro would die in a car accident.

It's just this unbelievable circumstance. Apparently it was even just like, you know, he died. It was a nice morning. There was no weather. He's driving by himself. And it's just a real strategy. You know, it's a common story in jazz. We've lost a lot of folks.

Yeah. Very young, much too early in their careers. And I think this is one of them. So we'll talk a little bit about, you know, the legacy of this trio and how Scott LaFarro's death affected both Bill and Paul. But I thought that we could just kind of set it up by talking about each one of these great player's history. And we'll start with Scott LaFaro.

He was the youngest member of the group. He was born in 1936 in Newark, but grew up in Geneva, New York, in upstate New York. He was part of a musical family. His father was a musician. He was a child prodigy. Before he played with Bill,

he played with people like Chet Baker, Stan Kenton. He, at the same time, was playing with Ornette Coleman. And he was this prodigious talent. Yeah. Was he a prodigy all? He was a musical prodigy. And on the bass specifically, and we're going to hear here,

we're going to hear here, that he was doing things that not a lot of people had done before or since. I mean, truly an incredible talent on the base. And so here's the recording of Scott LaFarro with Victor Feldman. This plays back into our Asia episode, Steely Dance Asia, that Victor Feldman was all over. This is an album with Victor Feldman playing piano and vibes and things. And this is Scott LaFarro on bass. This is, there is no greater love. Huge sound.

Yeah. Big bass sound. The most important thing that you can. have, but also prodigious soloists. Woo! I know. Swinging. Ever heard Ray Brown, my young man? You don't hear that a lot in Bill's trio.

That kind of, Victor Feldman sounds great, too. Yeah. So this is a very young, like, 22-year-old Scott LaFarro. Yeah. It's killer, right? What year is this?

I think 57, 56. Why not move to the vibes? You're Victor Feldman, you can do all of it. Yeah. So, there we've got a young musician, just coming into his prime. Dumber Paul Motion was born in 1931 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He spent some time in the Navy, and then when he got out, he started playing with people like

Lenny Tristano, Lonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins. He was really made an name for himself on the New York scene when he was a young man fresh out of the military. Here's a little bit of Paul Motion, pre-Bill Evans' trio on an album by another Vibs player, Eddie Costa. And this is, Bill Evans is on this album as well playing piano. So this is probably where these guys became buddies. This is if I were a bell. Well, that worked out to play it on the vibes. Yeah.

It's Paul Motion on the drums, Bill Evans on the piano. Brush. Yeah. Brushmaster. Yeah. As we'll later hear in a lot of the Bill Evans material. Eddie Kosovo. Yeah.

Little hints of a little bit of cool West Coast jazz, but got that swing, got that flavor. Paul Motion has a swagger to him, too. He really does. So that's what the, The two members of the Bill Evans trio were doing sort of in the lead-up. Now, Bill Evans himself is kind of an interesting character. He grew up playing piano. He said he tried violin.

He ended up playing in the Army in the early 50s. He played flute in the Army band and a little bit of piano. And he met some musicians in that band that would be pretty influential. And he left the Army. He went to the Man of School of Music in New York City. Didn't he also go to school, at least briefly, in South Louisiana? He did go to South Louisiana first. at first.

I thought there was a little bit of... Before graduate school, that's right, yeah. And was really like, you know, studying composition and things like that. He got on the New York scene, he started playing, like, society gigs, and then started to hook up with folks, like George Russell, and started to kind of really push some impressionistic influences. Yeah. Right.

Some of these French composers, W.C. and Rovell in his music and some of the jazz that was being played in New York in the mid-50s. And he caught the... ear of Miles Davis. And just before he formed the Bill Evans trio with Scott and Paul in 1959, he had made this little album

ever hear of it with Miles Davis. This is blue and green from kind of blue. Is this better than KLB? This is KOB. But it's funny to think this was very early in Bill's career. He was just a young guy. And he was only in Miles' band for nine months.

He wasn't in his band when they made this album. Miles brought him back because he wanted to have this sound for this album. So, again, this is from one of the most popular jazz albums, one of the greatest jazz albums of all time Kind of Blue. It is, it's impressionistic. There's less chords happening. There's more about this color palette that Miles and Bill Evans created together.

Yeah. And as we'll see, this made Bill Evans a star, and he will keep pulling from the Kind of Blue well. Yeah. again and again in his career. But it's just kind of a setup to where everybody was. And then there's a little bit, you mentioned George Russell, there was, I don't know if they were calling it third stream already then.

Yeah, some of that, right? And really early fusion in terms of classical and jazz, especially with the impressionistic stuff. So these guys hooked up in 1959, the three of them, and there was pretty immediate chemistry. And, you know, we talk about influential and what makes them influential to people. And it's really the conversational style

that they didn't invent, but they, in a lot of ways, pushed forward, especially with the popularity that Bill Evans was writing after Kind of Blue. He had made a name for himself. People were paying attention to what he was doing. And with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motion, he found a couple of compatriots

in his sort of conversational style that he wanted to play. Kindred Spirits. Kindred Spirits. And they made their first studio album, Portrait and Jazz, in 1959. It got released in December, 1959. I just broke my pen.

I literally just snapped it right off. Bill Evans makes all pianists nervous. His skill level is high. I've got this coffee here just in case I have to crunch it up or something, you know? So this is Autumn Leaves, and this is Take One from Portrait and Jazz, 1989. Take one. This is, take one. I bet it's good.

This is the first album that these three made together. So you can hear Scott LaFaro is not just holding down a baseline. He's commenting on the music that's happening. Yeah. He's participatory from the beginning, right after the arrangement part, he's just like, he's in it music. Oftentimes, the first soloist would be the bassist in this trio. He might have been the best soloist in the trio. I don't think that's controversial. I mean, he's probably more of a prodigy on his instrument than Bill was on his. I'm serious. Yeah. You know? Much like in the Adamas Trio, I'd like to throw out of the Booboob part. I like to let the best soloist start.

Paul Motion there. His conversation happens. Yeah. So, I mean, this is a statement. Yeah. You know what I mean? That's... You know, I remember...

Woo! I remember when I first got this CD. This was the first Bill Evans, the CD, Portrait and Jazz, like, that I got. I'd heard Bill Evans mostly on mild stuff, although I'd heard Live the Village Vanguard for sure. And I think I'd heard Waltz for Debbie, the live stuff. But I remember when I got this, like, I was not ready. And this was the first strike I listened to.

Like, this is 10. makes me totally back to it. I was like, this was, I was just like the bass soloing first and so much conversation. And I kind of, I think I kind of knew Autumn leaves at that time. I was so intimidated by this. I literally had to put it to the side and be like, I'm going to come back to it. It's some high-level shit, man. There's a lot happening there.

It rewards deep listening for sure. But it also, because of the sort of like general pathos that all three musicians are so great at exhibiting, it can be a vibe as well. It can be a rainy day, sweat, put on your card again. as I'm demonstrating here. Cardigan. Cardigan. Put on your Bill Evans' nerd glasses.

And just enjoy yourself. Like, it is really... Well, you dressed the part today. So, I know. I actually did dress, knowing that we would be doing some Bill Evans today. But, man, can we just talk

real quick about the sound on that, right? This is prestige, right? Oh, dude. All of them, yeah. Man, that's a... It's a good... It's a good.

And the brush? Yeah. Yeah, I know. Who? Who? So, late in the album... You Van Winkle? Late in the album,

they play this. Sound familiar? This is, of course, blue and green again. Yeah, he did use that chord in our... Maybe we should play some blue and green on the way out today. So stay tuned. We'll play a little blue and green at the end, yeah. So this would be a common theme.

Bill would often play things as we'll hear that are very reminiscent, if not directly from Kind of Blue, his most famous album that he made with Miles Davis. It's beautiful recording. Smart move, commercially. Smart move. So that's 1959... 1959 is Portrait and Jazz.

It's a beautiful... Written by Bill Evans or Miles Davis. It says Miles Davis. There's many stories about it. It was probably a collaboration if we're being generous. The next album they make, a lot of people consider to be the second one

of the four here to be definitely their best studio one. It's probably better than Portrait and Jazz. And it might be the best trio recording of the 60s, even though it's released right in 1961. It's unbelievable. It's called Explorations. every tune is a banger.

It starts with this. Israel. What is one of the songs that made me fall in love of jazz when I was a young kid? Some minor blues. Made it's five, swing. Listen to what Scott and Paul do here. I just remember being a young musician

being like, what is happening? Dot a quarter note field. I mean, unless I'm getting my dates off was very influential to Tony Williams, Ron Carter, some of the way they would phrase 62, 63, they had to have heard this, or maybe they heard the same thing. So a popular record for jazz art.

Yeah. All four of these actually were. Yeah. These all, one of the reasons why they're influential, is people were listening to these. This track, actually, I think this record, like if you were to say the classic trio, we could talk about whether or not

this is the Bill Evans classic trio or not, but this track probably, if you had to play one, this is the one. Yeah, we're going to save this later. I want to skip ahead a little bit to the trading between after the bass solo here. There's some trading between Bill Evans and Palm Motion and Palm Motion, Swagger, man. Swagger, all swagger.

Sound is unbelievable. The brush playing is very high level. That's Israel. That's the opening track off of Explorations. Another track, the opener that we did in our open Nartis. Again, you know, Bill's voicings are... what people talk about the most probably with him. And there is a thing going on. There is a thing happening in the voicings. It's like these rich colors that he's pulling out

with the influences of all of those French impressionistic composers. You can hear the 13s, the 11th being brought out of these chords. And it matters, man. It creates a sense of that mid-century warmth that will always be indicative of this time period. in this trio specifically. Yeah. But his voice, like, oh, here, the voice leading.

I mean, as great as the voicing are, it's like his voice leading. And for those of these that aren't musicians, don't worry. We're not nerds here. Yes, we are. But, but I mean, the voice leading, it just, like, if you think about it, I like to think about, like, vertical versus horizontal. Like, it's like with architecture, if you walk into a room and say, wow, this feels so good and you're only looking from the ceiling down, that's good.

That's the voicing, right? Like, that's the one chord. The voice leading is like moving from room to room. How do you get from one voicing to the next, that connection? And it's the fact that if you were to isolate any of this, like, like any of one of his voices, yeah, they're going to sound great. But then it's a little bit like, wait, I can play that voicing. How come I don't sound like Bill?

Because he knows where he's going. Voice sings, exactly. So it's that beautiful, you know, moving through the music as a chordal instrument. They don't, not only pianists, guitarist, vibes, maybe, if they must. But, I mean, it's a brilliant thing you have. And I just want to say Paul Motion is super influential. You start to hear all this as we revisit

personally influential to me. I don't think you even know about this. But Paul Motion, when I was first out on the jazz scene in the early 90s, I'm a little older than you, son. Do tell. Come on, son. What up, son?

Talk more about that. Used to be so cool. I remember being on the road and Paul Motion was traveling with his own trio and quartet. He had some great groups in the early 90s. and he was the first, the only jazz musician that I knew that I knew that carried one small bag and some symbols.

Oh, yeah. That was it. No checking. That's a pro move right there. I used to have a huge double bag. Legend move right there. Yes, no, but nobody was doing it back then because there was no like baggage charges or whatever. Yeah.

I mean, it wasn't as much of a thing. And so he had one little roller bag. So I've adopted that. I'm known in the jazz community as Mr. Carri-on. Yeah. That's my name. We can't, listen, we're going places. We don't have instruments with us.

That's right. We don't need more than a carrier. Now it's not that unique. But back then, it was a thing. And thank you, Paul Motion. Like, that opened up a world of freedom to me and travel for many years. So explorations, and we'll have a playlist of all of our selections here, but I just encourage you to check out these four albums, Portrait and Jazz Explorations.

And then in June, specifically June 25, 1961, this trio was at the Village Vanguard, I think for the whole weekend, but they recorded one day of that weekend, the Sunday, June 25th, 1961, and they ended up releasing two albums. Now, I don't know if this would have been two albums, had Scott LaFaro not passed away 10 days later. It should have been either way. I mean, when you hear it, it's like... There are enough highlights for this to be two albums. But think about this. Two albums, that means it's basically the whole gate. Yeah, I mean... Unless they may have done a mat. Do you know if they did a matinee? I wonder. I think they did a few sets. Okay. I think they did two, maybe three even. And there are multiple takes of things. So they've done things multiple times. Right. But still, this is a majority of

music that was played that day. Yeah. Two records. I know. That's crazy. And they're both, also, it's Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debbie. Like, it's not just two random live records.

Now. These are two of the most influential trio records of all time. Yeah. And they were recorded on a Sunday, on the same Sunday at the same club. Yeah. And somehow they both have their own distinct. I mean, for years,

I didn't know these were recorded the same day. Me neither. Like this, but they have their own personality. Like, the sequencing on them is fantastic. Individually. Yeah. It's not like volume one to,

or it's not like, Early set, hairs. You know what it reminds me of? Is My Funny Valentine and Four and More? Those two records were from the same concert, but they're both. They make sense once you know they're, but they also make sense on their own. They do somehow. I totally.

And I think Wals for Debbie, especially being anchored by probably his most famous composition, his biggest standard, his most beloved composition, that anchors that record. So release-wise, Sunday at the Village Vanguard came out first, and we'll start with Glorious Step, which is a Scott LaFaro composition. Again, keep in mind, this is a live recording. This is the theme song for the St. Louis a few years ago, remember? That's a different Gloria. Okay.

I actually love this tune. Yeah. Again, you can hear this interplay happening. Paul Motion talks about in some interviews, not specifically with this trio, but with Bill Evans in general. Yeah. That he loved to play. He loved to rehearse, and that they would rehearse all the time. They'd be playing all day.

Wow. Gigs or no gigs, just to get it to where you hear it. It's something interesting we heard Ray Brown talk about with Oscar Peterson's trio. Similar thing. They'd be practicing online. Ray Brown loved to rehearse. Yeah. I love rehearsing, too, man. There's no better feeling than feeling like you're preferring.

I actually do not like rehearsing, so I feel weird. Don't worry about it. You know, so I just as I was listening to that, you know, one of the accomplishments of this recording, and I love the way you've put together. And as always, we'll have a Spotify and an Apple playlist for this. I think that this is such a, I mean, all these records are great. But if all of them are great, what's, you know, what you've put together here for Bill, you know, and the classic trio, I think is such a beautiful entree point.

Oh, listen to that. You know, whether or revisiting or just a way of kind of traveling through that without listen to all four records. You can do that, too, of course. Of course. But I would say that this Vanguard stuff, I'm sitting here listening and I can tell you from being in the Vanguard many times as a listener, but actually way more times on stage, what they captured on here, I mean, the playing as a church. trio is just off the charts as a listener, but also for the inside baseball people. It's just like so artful, just the detail-oriented. But the sound of it and the fact that the, I wasn't alive in 1961, but the Vanguard was there.

Talk more about that. You might have been. Caleb was. He's a little older than all of us. But the idea of like, it's still being the same. At least it feels the same to me. And I'm hearing the piano here and the drums. Like, if you haven't been to the village vanguard, get your butt down there.

I hope it's going to be there forever, but it's been there almost 190 years now, like, you know, get there and experience something like this because it's magical. And this is captured all that. I'm so excited, man. I'm doing a New York trip. I took my daughter a couple years ago just to, like,

two of us hanging in New York for a long weekend, going at the end of March with my son, Ivan. He's never been to New York before. We got tickets for Aaron Parks at the Village Vanguard. I know, it's going to be so much fun. He also, my son plays upright base now, So I'm really excited for him to experience live jazz on that level at that club. It's magic.

It's magical. Another track from Sunday at the Village Rangard is Solar. And again, this is with the theme of Bill playing Miles stuff. Yeah. You know, always kind of like, as artful as he was, he was a little bit like a showman. Like, remember those popular records I was on with Miles Davis? I hope you like that new original. Here's a little ditty I used to play with the guy named Miles Davis.

Exactly right. Yeah, that's what it feels like. So that's Solar. Listen to the melody. Oh, that symbol. Sizzle. Actually, on this one, I want to skip ahead to Scott LaFaro's bass solo a little bit. I just want to say, before you do that, can I jump in?

I could stop you if I... There's four, I'm writing down four names here, because I want to send these tracks. I feel like they probably have never heard this. We always think about these records. Everybody knows these. Hold on. And, okay, I've got four names. here of pianists that I think should hear

this stuff and it could influence as great as they are already, but could take them next level. Aaron Parks, Keith Jarrett, Robert Glasper, and Brad Meldow. I'm pretty sure they've heard all this. I think so. Let's throw that out there. Good one, Pete. Shout out all you guys. Let's listen to a little bit of Scott LaFaro's bass

solo on Solar and then let's see, let's send these maybe to Ron Carter or Chris McBride. How good is he? Awesome. Amazing. Around this time he was also playing with Ornack. Coleman, he's on that free jazz album, Charlie Hayden and Scott LaFaro, playing two-based Oh, the green one. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's right. Yeah. And so imagine what that's like.

Again, I just wanted to demonstrate just what a prodigious talent, Scott LaFarro was, 25 years old here as well. So we've covered the first three albums, Portrait and Jazz, Explorations, and then Sunday at the Village Vanguard. Again, recorded in the very same day was Waltz for Debbie. It wasn't released until later, 1962. and it has this incredible original composition for Bill Evans called Waltz for Debbie. It was written for his niece, Debbie, in like 1953, apparently. It had been around for a while. But to me, this is like, this might be the apex for the whole thing. We'll see. I have another apex, but this captures the...

The next transition is great, too. We learn this at Opist Studio Pro. piano masters club. Enlightening to say the least. Eye opening. I think Scott LaFarro's intonation might be my apex moment. That's pretty good.

A waltz in four. What? That's Waltz for Debbie. Again, from the album Waltz for Debbie. Also recorded live at the Village VanCard. And there's just one more track I want to play from these four. This is the tune some other time

and just see if this seems familiar. Ever heard it? Is this a blues? For those of you who don't know, this is exactly the same opening as Flamenco sketches from kind of... Sort of. Kind of blue. Sort of. Same vibe. This might be the afternoon set.

Can hear the cash register. That was just taken out a few years ago. So good. It's really a tragedy that 10 days later, we lost Scott LaFarro at such an early age at 25 years old. He was driving back from a gig in the Catskills to his place and lost control of his car. Apparently, it was borrowing a friend's car or something like that. But, yeah. So just thank you to the Bill Evans trio.

Yeah, man. And, you know, the legacy of this was that Bill didn't play for months after Scott died. Yeah, it was a hard barrow. Took a lot of that year off just because it was really, really hard. I feel like you can hear in the music. They all felt like they found, you know, people who were in sync with their idea of what music was at that time. And that's a special thing, man. Those people don't come around very often. That's right. You know what I mean? And you know it when you're in the middle of something special.

And I'm projecting my own lack of any actual insight into this. But I can imagine it was feeling like it was the beginning. It didn't feel like it was in the middle or the end. It would have to have. Yeah. Just a year and a half together. Yeah. Or maybe even barely. I mean, like to us, we look at how much happened and they were kind of like, oh, well, they were deep into it. And musically, they were deep into it. But I think chronologically, and just in terms of the trajectory, I mean, it must have been... Oh, I did think of three more pianists. We need to send this to, in case you're interested.

Okay, great. Can you stop me? Please do. Herbie Hancock, Rini Rosnes and Sullivan Fortner. I think we're good on sending pianists, our favorite Bill Evans' recordings. Sullivan might know, but Herbie and Reno... I just feel like we should chill on the suggestions to the legends.

They would like it, though. Just saying. One more track I just want to play, and this is a tune that was written later. This is called Turn Out the Stars, and Bill Evans wrote this in tribute to Scott LaFaro. And this is from a 1966 album with Jim Hall, just a duo record called Intermodulation. I just want to listen to this one. Great record. Great record.

This is a beautiful tune that Bill wrote for Scott. Gorgeous. And all of the duo records between Bill Evans and Jim Hall, it's magical. Yeah. Let's get to some categories, Peter. Okay. So Desert Island Tracks. I am going to go with Waltz for Devi.

I think if there's one tune from this trio that makes me happen. every single time that I think is really, really deep and rich that I just love so much, it's WLTherdove. Yeah, that's a good one. I'm going to tell you even better one. My Desert Island, Blue and Green. Good. Yeah.

I can't argue with that. Yeah. That's pretty good. Even though it's not the classic version, the K-O-B version, I actually, in some ways from, you know, this trio version, I don't know. It's like, it's that and more because it's not been listened to as much. by myself or anybody because you can't avoid the other one in a beautiful way

you can't avoid the kind of a blue version. But I think that would be a fun thing to have on a desert island is that. I mean, it's just the soul and the spirit of that, of this simplicity, you know, Bill's reading of it. Yeah, it's great stuff. Apex moments. I'm

going to go with Bill Evans solo on Israel from Explorations. The opening track for Explorations, which we listen to a little bit. Bill's solo on that, to me, is the apex moment for this, maybe for this whole trio. Yeah, that's a great one. I'm going to go with the second chorus of autumn leaves on, that's a great moment. Because like that was, I'm telling you, that's the part that scared me. Yeah, you know what I mean? And then as I went back and started listening to it over the years,

it's, the interactive action is so compelling. Like, they're playing the most standard of standards, but like the possibilities that that opens up to it, to me is like the apex. Like, that's what I wanted, that's why I feel like it just, it congeals the music that. the interactivity, like what a piano trio can be. Bespoke playlist title. I have a couple here. If this were an Apple

playlist. You're getting into that one. It would be called sweat of weather. That would be the name of the playlist. Sorry, say that again? Sweat of weather. Do you have a lift? Sweat of weather.

It would be the name of the playlist. Why are you looking over there? I don't know. And then another one if this were... I think Spotify would have this on a playlist, like would have any of this music on a playlist called Sensitive Smart Boy. That'd be the name of the playlist.

Okay, can you guys look? Sensitive Smart Boy. Where's your camera? He looks at me. Like, look at the camera like you're looking at me. Sensitive Smart Boy. No, that's not how you look. Look at it. Look at me again and say it.

I got to look down. Okay, I like it. I like it. Sensitive smart boy. There you go. See? Such intensity. I like it. I think you are a sensitive smart boy, aren't you? They just had the, uh, I'm a sensitive smart ass

Did you watch any of the SNL 50 on Sunday night? So they had this whole like compilation of all their commercials that they had and they had one it was like Fisher Price made it's a wishing well

for sensitive boys. Wish I was a wishing well. It was just like this wishing well you would have in your house and just like this sensitive little skinny boy just like thinking about it. That inspired you.

Okay I got a couple funny ones and then I got my real one that was inspired by something you said earlier. Okay. First is kind of an obvious one, shoegaze for life with the four as a number four. Shoegaze for life.

That'd be confusing playlist for shoegays, guys. Go ahead. Jazz piano bespoke trio jams. He got the spoke in the episode. He got bespoke in the episode. But the one, those are just playful ones. Mid-century modern jazz piano trio, comma, rated, colon,

8. A little long. I like the mid-century modern jazz piano trio. Yeah, rated A. Even that rated A. None of these B ratings. No, it's not X, it's not B, it's A. Okay, up next, if there were an album that was up next and, like, recommended for you, what do you got?

Okay, so I got two. Amademal, Live at the Pershing. Great call. Yeah, and Oscar Peterson Night Train. Also a great call. In fact, I think I had explorations and Night Train at the same time. I bought them in the same day. Yeah, because you might say, oh, wow, stylistic is so different, but, like, this is all rated a piano.

These are piano trials that are classic, that are interactive, that have. their own vibe. Love it. So to me, a lot of times the up next is not about something with the exact same vibe.

Like, we're not gonna go kind of blue after this because some of it's the same, right? Yeah. We're doing something else that structurally has a connection.

I went with a couple of, I went with pianists on either side of his run with Miles Davis. I went with Kelly Green from Winton Kelly. Great one. And I went with a garland of red

from red garland. First of all, I love the green and red. Yeah. On either side of Bill Evans and his blueness. Yeah. And then...

Blue Evans. Undercurrent, which was Bill Evans and Jim Hall duo, I think, would really pair well. Any quibble bits on this? I don't have any really to say because I love the way these albums sound. Yeah. I really wouldn't change much of the music. I feel like at what they're doing, this is really high level.

All of the song selections are great. There's original sprinkled in, even the bass players write and killing songs. Do I mean? I like all of it. Yeah, my only quibble bit I have is, and if you are a Bill Evans, well, I can't say if you're, I'm a Bill Evans lover. Come on. But I'm like, if you are a deeply, deeply intense Bill Evans lover,

you're going to want to fast forward 30 seconds here, because you may have a quibble bit with me as a human. Oh, no, turn your volume up. No, my only quibble bit is that this trio, this especially, I mean, really just Bill Evans' tree. I mean, if you look later like Eddie Gomez, Jack Dijunette, there's other trios that he played with for longer, but this would be considered the classic, right?

Sure. But that they created something so intense, so intense and so personal for these three players and really Bill Evans' conception, but possibly something that is kind of easy, not easy, but it can be imitated. Like there's elements of it that can be taken and people have done that. It's true. It's been overplayed for sure. Yeah, not that you shouldn't do that.

And I don't want to say, oh, this is so easy to do because to do it like this is not. It's impossible. But there's something about this that created like a whole, a lot of imitation. Yeah. You know, and so you can't blame that. But I'm just saying it kind of went to this whole little bit, you know, sullen, somber, sad boy. music, which is to me not really the ethos of jazz, but does it like the dynamics, the dynamism,

the soul of the way that they played it, that's the original. You know, but it is kind of sensitive and stuff. So when you take parts of that and start to imitate it and ape it, perhaps, it can kind of become a caricature of itself. I think those are fair quibble bits for sure. Okay. Snobometer. I've got it as a seven. We've been really off on the snobometer, you and I.

So I'm interested to hear what you have on this. I have it five because I don't understand it. So I'm just going five from now. It's straight down the middle every time. No, I mean, it's like, how can Bill Evans be snobby, but how can it not be snob? Right? It's like he's the ultimate snob for... That sentence doesn't make sense.

Well, that's why I said five, buddy. What do you mean? Tell me your seven. Well, just in that... A seven is like a mezzo forte. It means nothing. I guess it kind of does. You're kind of right.

But I think it's not as accessible as some other just like tip and swing in. Lou Donaldson, Alligator Bugaloo stuff. You know what I mean? Like, that stuff is easy. easy to listen to. Like you said, you were turned off when you first listened to Autumn Leaves, right? I think just like someone, maybe like

Monk or someone like that, this takes a little bit of acquiring the taste. Well, that's if you're comparing it to other jazz records. I almost think the snowmometer should be compared in this case, because no one's going to be like, oh, I've got this pianist, you probably never heard of Bill Evans. You've got to really be an inside. Everybody knows Bill Evans.

Of course. Everybody loves Bill Evans. Right. But I would say, like, a record, like interplay. Now you know that's one of my favorite records. That's a snobby record because most people don't even know it. They don't think it's his best record. They're like, no, of course. One of these four trio records is his greatest albums. So I almost feel like these are in a way

so straight down the middle. I mean, like, if you would be like, this is your introduction to Bill Evans, you can take any of these records, anything from this classic 18 month period and say that represents Bill Evans. So to me the snobby level is low because of that. No, I'm not sure what the snobometer means. Okay. Is it better than kind of blue?

No. Ocuchamance, I have eight for all four of these. I don't know if we can put all four of these album covers up, but like Portrait and Jazz, Explorations, Sunday, and Waltz for Debbie, all killing, all classics. The only one I would drop down to a seven, perhaps, and some of them, maybe even a night, would be portrait. Just because the nerdy picture where it looks like Michael J. Fox is sad

back to the future. Marty McPly. He does. A little bit. Although compositionally, it's great, but it's really up in your face. you know yeah look at that guy Bill there's Bill

cool all right so leave a comment let us know your favorite any of these tracks or anything else and then check us out at the Nurnook if you're an open studio member go to the hang and I'm gonna be making a little video

on how to get some of those classic Bill Evans sounds and some of the just I have this one voicing you're a master of that I have this one thank you very much I can ape anybody but no I have this one voicing hack this one easy voicing hack

that unlocks Bill Evans's hacks No, no, there is a little voicing you can do where it's just kind of like, oh, that's Bill Evans. Okay, cool. And you have some cool, I don't know if you're going to divulge all to that. Some cool rhythmic approaches to, it really made me be like, oh, that's what that is.

It's so simple. I never noticed that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, man, let's do a little blue and green. We got Caleb Kirby on the drums. Bob the one on the bass, give it up, everybody. Come on. Come on, folks.

Give it up. Until the next time. You'll hear it.