Jerry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grddVIAeBjs

Thanks for the link, I enjoyed the show. I did turn off before Drummer Boy, however! I think Bing was particularly good with a guitar backing. Unfortunately on the Mosaic set Buddy Cole's keyboards are often a bit overpowering and though he is a good player with excellent chops, sometimes his 'cuteness' is too much. I saw the film Riding High on TCM a few days ago and Bing's music with a guitar very much in the foreground was great in that film.

Actually what I said above was too simplistic because Evans was doing more than simply subdividing changes inside the bar, he was also knocking down the bar barrier, displacing phrases across bars and chords... Too much can be made, too, of Evans' personal life and drug abuse. I think we should evaluate his art on its own merits.

I think this is really missing a lot of what Evans was all about. Some people at the time were playing around with the overall format, ie dumping the whole 'song' format and going completely outside the box. They were experimenting on a kind of macro level. Evans went the other way, retaining the song format but on a micro level breaking the bar up into smaller and smaller increments and adding harmonic and rhythmic nuance. He talks about what he is doing in the interview with Marian McPartland. So if Coltrane or Ornette Coleman could be likened to what James Joyce was doing to deconstruct and alter the form of the novel, Evans was more like Marcel Proust, putting the pieces under a microscope and seeking finer gradations, nuances and flavors.... I think Evans was consciously picking out tunes that others might have dismissed as trivial, such as pieces from Disney films, and doing something quietly subversive by re-analyzing the harmonic and rhythmic makeup. There is a surface sweetness to these things, but going further inside he was exploring an incredibly rich world rhythmically, harmonically, and tonally. Larry seems to be dismissing that as a reactionary, last ditch attempt to defend the comfortable and safe song format but I think it is way more than that. And I think this richness that Evans found there is what has influenced so many players; not because it is safe and syrupy, but because it reveals an expanded palette with which to paint.

Thanks for posting that essay, Larry. It's perceptive and very interesting to me. Full disclosure: I was a hard-core Evans fanatic (what would now be called a fan-boy, I understand; apparently fan or fanatic are no longer strong enough) for several years, ending about 10 years back. I still love Evans' work but I have listened to it so much that I just don't need to play it that much any more. Now I understand better what you are getting at (though it is still unclear to me precisely what you mean by "evade and distract his pursuers"; given that so far you have been unable or unwilling to explain it yourself I suspect you aren't too sure what it means either ). I think you are correct in saying Evans preferred the romantic song structure of Broadway tunes and so forth, though I am not sure I am able to accompany you in the viewpoint that that structure and style was the old order which inevitably is overthrown by subsequent developments in jazz, and anyone who resists this evolution is a case of arrested development. Then again I am a card-carrying sentimentalist, romantic and lover of old Broadway tunes myself. Offhand, I suppose I would reject the notion that those things can only be pretty rather than beautiful, but I need to digest what you said and perhaps will reply more later.

Larry, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you. At this point just trying to understand what you are saying. When I look at videos of late period Evans, I see a guy who was listening closely to his fellow band members and registering interest and approval in what they are playing, especially the bassist. I am at a loss to see how that jibes with a guy who is trying to evade and distract the people he's playing with, if that is what you are getting at.

If one could ever figure out exactly what he is trying to say! His last few comments lead me to believe he means Evans was rushing the tempo because he wanted to "evade or distract" anybody who might want to interact with him. While it's possible his drug use was a way of escaping others and isolating himself, I still find it hard to understand how rushing the tempo is supposed to do that, but perhaps I'm still misunderstanding this oracular prose.

OK I read the interview. I guess you are trying to say he was a man rushing because he was being pursued by his demons or death or something, which is ok, but not at all clear from the quote, though perhaps in context it made more sense.

Fine-sounding prose but what does that even mean? Who are the pursuers supposed to be? Rival pianists? And he is increasing the tempo within a tune to throw them off? Doesn't make sense to me.

Check out Jim Baldwin's archived radio shows: Jimmie Jazz. Very nice program on the Boswell Sisters and many others. Might give you some ideas for areas you'd like to investigate.

For some reason this Album doesn't seem to get much love. I have always liked it a lot. It contains only Bill Evans compositions. The solo he takes on 'The two lonely people' is one of the most perfect solos Evans ever did, IMO.

You can actually listen to the whole thing free here: http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ellafi...ts_in_hollywood edit: well, you can listen to 25 tracks for free. Recommended: Take the A Train, All of Me.

Good sessionography there. Another one I like a lot is Reggie Workman Summit Conference. Rivers and Hill!

Holland's Conference of the Birds is a nice one too. I particularly like Involutions date. I listened to Contours every day for something like a year. The Holland/Rivers duets are worth revisiting every once in a while.

Yeah, I had something like that on LP, but it skips and is unlistenable now.

Back when I was getting divorced my ex threatened to destroy all my most treasured cds (hell hath no fury, etc). I began systematically making backups of the box sets, esp Mosaic and keeping them in my office at work. Since then I have kept up the habit of making copies when I get the set and keeping them at the office. I used to be a DBA and learned the hard way to make backups and keep 'em in a vault.

Actually, these sets aren't all that expensive. They cost what, 15 or 16 bucks a cd? That's cheaper than a lot of new cds. The packaging and the books are excellent. Plus of course it's often the only way to buy the material new.

Boy that was quick at the end. Lucky I managed to get #4932 last week!

I ordered the Lloyd and JJ (along with the Tolliver select) last weekend and they arrived today. That was quick! I listened to the Lloyd at work. I got it because I really like Tony Williams way of drumming in this period but found a great deal more to enjoy in there. Listening to JJ now. Very nice, glad I got it. I think I will pick up some of the other singles over the next few months.

Toni Morrison's reading was surprisingly good. Diane Reeves put in what was probably the best performance of the evening. Tyner's performance was oddly disappointing; I've seen him play way better in recent years. Herbie played well but neither the bass nor drums knew what they were doing. Cosby started out with a promising play of words on 'the people' but somehow lost it and flopped. Nora Jones came off intense, mysterious, and better than I expected. I liked Danny Glover and Belafonte and Robin Williams. Laurence Fishburne was good in spots but way too much of him. Too many people gushing over Wynton. Most of the music was boring. Too bad Elvis Costello and Toussaint didn't get to play more. Costello was just getting warmed up.

Caiman (amazon other seller) is selling this for 74.99 . Is there any reason not to get that?

I managed to obtain this cd yesterday and have been listening to it yesterday and today. 70 minutes of great music. This is very nice to have if you liked the band on Rosewood. The band is ultra tight. I for one like Gumbs' playing with Woody.

Anybody see this? Ultra thin plot, but lots of very good gospel music and Beyonce. Ahh Beyonce..... (floats upward a couple inches)

The quality gets quite a bit better after the 1st couple of sets. If I remember right the fan got a different recorder and mike. That said, I would get this box after getting all the others, because of the limitations of the recording technique (a tape recorder in a briefcase under the table or some such).