The superb pianist recorded this album, his second as a leader, in December 1958, more than two years after his debut. In between, of course, he was an integral part of Miles Davis's legendary sextet. Spurred by a rhythm section of bassist Sam Jones and drummer Philly Joe Jones, Bill Evans shows amazing versatility on these sides: his playing on "Minority," "Night and Day," and "Oleo" is surprisingly robust and even bluesy at times--certainly not adjectives usually associated with the cool pianist. He's delightfully playful on the midtempo "Tenderly." Then there are the slow, meditative numbers for which he's known, including three unaccompanied showcases. "Peace Piece," which was actually conceived merely as an introduction to Leonard Bernstein's "Some Other Time," is the most famous, but his reading of another Bernstein song, "Lucky to Be Me," is equally mesmerizing. Although the original record dropped it, the CD reissue does include a version of "Some Other Time," complete with the "Peace Piece" intro. --Marc Greilsamer
Product Description
Japanese Version featuring an LP Style Slipcase for Initial Pressing.
Everybody Digs Bill Evans,Bill Evans,Ojc,Jazz,Pop
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Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Bill Evans Trio Manufacturer: Ojc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000000Y47 Release Date: 1991-07-01 |
Tracks:
- Minority
- Young & Foolish
- Lucky To Be Me
- Night & Day
- Epilogue
- Tenderly
- Peace Piece
- What Is There To Say?
- Oleo
- Epilogue
- Some Other Time (mono)
Amazon.com essential recording
The superb pianist recorded this album, his second as a leader, in December 1958, more than two years after his debut. In between, of course, he was an integral part of Miles Davis's legendary sextet. Spurred by a rhythm section of bassist Sam Jones and drummer Philly Joe Jones, Bill Evans shows amazing versatility on these sides: his playing on "Minority," "Night and Day," and "Oleo" is surprisingly robust and even bluesy at times--certainly not adjectives usually associated with the cool pianist. He's delightfully playful on the midtempo "Tenderly." Then there are the slow, meditative numbers for which he's known, including three unaccompanied showcases. "Peace Piece," which was actually conceived merely as an introduction to Leonard Bernstein's "Some Other Time," is the most famous, but his reading of another Bernstein song, "Lucky to Be Me," is equally mesmerizing. Although the original record dropped it, the CD reissue does include a version of "Some Other Time," complete with the "Peace Piece" intro. --Marc GreilsamerAlbum Details
Japanese Version featuring an LP Style Slipcase for Initial Pressing.Customer Reviews:
This may be a long review - but this is one important album.......2007-07-03
Perhaps all of this explains the blistering "Oleo," Night and Day," and "Minority," which at times consciously seem to assert, "I can swing my f*ck%n' a*s off with the best of them - just take a listen." I think it also explains the very moving rendition of "Lucky to Be Me," whose title Evans finds at once painfully ironic and blessedly true.
So what is there to say? Too much about all the astonishing things he does with these tunes. Evans sounds like the heir apparent to Bud Powell, only harmonically more "modern" and more fluid technically. Tons of credit also goes to Bill's favorite drummer (and fellow junkie in the Davis sextet) Philly Joe Jones, who swings his f*ck%n' a*s off, himself. Although Jones is sympathetic to everything the pianist does, even on the rather piano-centric ballads, he is absolutely explosive in the uptempo numbers. What a killer groove this guy could lay down! Meanwhile, Sam Jones keeps everyone grounded and shines in his unfortunately rare solo interludes.
There is an awful lot of talk about (and rightly so, for the most part) about the LaFaro-Motian-Evans trio - especially the way they expanded and tinkered with the time feel. But the germs of it (I'd say better than the germs of it) are all here. Take "Tenderly," a short waltz, but an absolute tour de force. Philly Joe gets this relaxed thing going; Evans goes all over the place, displacing the beat with sly interjections and letting loose with dizzyingly virtuosic scale passages; Sam Jones is strong, right there with them. Every time I hear it I almost have to restrain myself from laughing out loud it's so good. Why was this kind of exuberance so rare with LaFaro and Motian? In the end, I'm left feeling robbed of some great music knowing that Philly Joe, Sam Jones, and Evans didn't form a working group first.
* * * * * * * * * *
Some of the '61 Vanguard fanatics might also carp that the pianist hadn't yet perfected the elaborate system of inner voicings that became one of his trademarks. But as one who was first exposed to his later albums, I find the starker (and still extremely logical) harmonic and emotional content here both refreshing and invigorating. In an essay on Jean Sibelius, James Hepokoski says about the composer's Third Symphony, "A watershed in his career, the Third Symphony sets out...to restore the possibility of experiencing...the major triad...as a progressively deepening, revelatory event." Although Bill Evans certainly adds some 9ths, 13ths, and other extensions to his triads, he brings the same meaning to the most fundamental western harmony on this watershed album in his career and his art. After all, what is "Peace Piece" but a study of the I-V-I harmonic relationship foundational to all western music? The startlingly inventive improvisation (which dabbles in bitonality as much as the blues)'s startlingly simple two chord figure (CMaj7 - Dmin7/G), derived from an introduction to "Some Other Time," becomes the album's central meditation, showing up in the closing vamp of "Young and Foolish" and the final measures of "Lucky to Be Me," as well.
And there are no extraneous notes expended exploring this fundamental relationship or any other progression. Indeed, the open fifths left ringing at the end of "Peace Piece," or accompanying the devastating final chords of "Lucky to Be Me," are almost spiritual in their nakedness. Really more than ever, the pianist makes each added voice, each sustained pedal count. Pettinger writes, "With the two remaining ballads, Evans creates an illusion that overcomes the simple fact that tone dies on his instrument. Working this magic requires a certain mental attitude; it is necessary to "think through" a phrase to connect dying notes. On "What is There to Say?" and "Young and Foolish" he is the master at this, sustaining the lines with intensely yearning tone and melting harmony....But it is his ravishing use of tone that makes "Young and Foolish" his first truly lyrical trio track and one of those that goes deepest; played with muscular strength in the singing, it touches the heart" (Pettinger 69).
* * * * * * * * *
Ultimately, Bill's quotation about finding "a new inner level of expressiveness" and fearing that he would lose it says it best. Everybody Digs is the result of an artist who is burning to say something and now - finally - knows how to say it. Compare it to the first flush of a great romance or the steady flow of a stream where there once was only a trickling brook. Either way, Bill Evans reinvented jazz piano on this album, with the big heart, probing mind, and hitherto unimaginable sensitivity of touch that made him the giant he is.
How shopping should be.......2006-02-22
One of Bill's finest works...........2003-11-24
A crossroads.......2003-03-10
With Everybody Digs however, Bill hit his stride. He had tempered and became more choice with his vocabulary-around this time he was a member of Miles Davis group. Oleo is a stunning effort. It is bop based, but it is a highly original take on it. None of his contemporaries were quite able to take the bebop idiom and loosen it up from Powell's reigns in terms of a new direction. This harder driving style on this record(a la All About Rosie/George Russell) as other reviewers commented seem to have been abandoned after the 50's. You see a little of it on Undercurrents on
Funny Valentine.
The ballads--lucky to be me, what is there to say. That ballad touch--so characteristic and identifiable was now permanently stamped to vinyl. And Peace, Peace is really a wild experiment with fantastic results. Bill could often be very tidy and preprogrammed but when he did odd things like this he really showed his unique depth. Another example of Bill's capricious and often humorous side can be seen on "With a Song in My Heart" from Empathy with Shelly Manne and Monty Budwig. Anybody interested in this period of bill's playing would be interested in checking out his work as a sideman with Dave Pike, Art Farmer, Charlie Mingus and Eddie Costa.
The Magic and the Power.......2003-02-11
Average customer rating: |
Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Bill Evans Manufacturer: Riverside ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000PY30J4 Release Date: 2007-06-05 |
Tracks:
- Minority
- Young and Foolish
- Lucky to Be Me
- Night and Day
- Tenderly
- Peace Piece
- What Is There to Say?
- Oleo
- Epilogue
- Some Other Time [*]
Average customer rating:
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Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Bill Evans Trio Manufacturer: Jvc / Xrcd ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00004STNB Release Date: 1997-03-25 |
Tracks:
- Minority
- Young and Foolish
- Lucky to Be Me
- Night and Day
- Epilogue
- Tenderly
- Peace Piece
- What Is There to Say?
- Oleo
- Epilogue
- Some Other Time [Mono Version][*]
Amazon.com essential recording
The superb pianist recorded this album, his second as a leader, in December 1958, more than two years after his debut. In between, of course, he was an integral part of Miles Davis's legendary sextet. Spurred by a rhythm section of bassist Sam Jones and drummer Philly Joe Jones, Bill Evans shows amazing versatility on these sides: his playing on "Minority," "Night and Day," and "Oleo" is surprisingly robust and even bluesy at times--certainly not adjectives usually associated with the cool pianist. He's delightfully playful on the midtempo "Tenderly." Then there are the slow, meditative numbers for which he's known, including three unaccompanied showcases. "Peace Piece," which was actually conceived merely as an introduction to Leonard Bernstein's "Some Other Time," is the most famous, but his reading of another Bernstein song, "Lucky to Be Me," is equally mesmerizing. Although the original record dropped it, the CD reissue does include a version of "Some Other Time," complete with the "Peace Piece" intro. --Marc GreilsamerAlbum Details
Japanese Version featuring an LP Style Slipcase for Initial Pressing.Customer Reviews:
This may be a long review - but this is one important album.......2007-07-03
Perhaps all of this explains the blistering "Oleo," Night and Day," and "Minority," which at times consciously seem to assert, "I can swing my f*ck%n' a*s off with the best of them - just take a listen." I think it also explains the very moving rendition of "Lucky to Be Me," whose title Evans finds at once painfully ironic and blessedly true.
So what is there to say? Too much about all the astonishing things he does with these tunes. Evans sounds like the heir apparent to Bud Powell, only harmonically more "modern" and more fluid technically. Tons of credit also goes to Bill's favorite drummer (and fellow junkie in the Davis sextet) Philly Joe Jones, who swings his f*ck%n' a*s off, himself. Although Jones is sympathetic to everything the pianist does, even on the rather piano-centric ballads, he is absolutely explosive in the uptempo numbers. What a killer groove this guy could lay down! Meanwhile, Sam Jones keeps everyone grounded and shines in his unfortunately rare solo interludes.
There is an awful lot of talk about (and rightly so, for the most part) about the LaFaro-Motian-Evans trio - especially the way they expanded and tinkered with the time feel. But the germs of it (I'd say better than the germs of it) are all here. Take "Tenderly," a short waltz, but an absolute tour de force. Philly Joe gets this relaxed thing going; Evans goes all over the place, displacing the beat with sly interjections and letting loose with dizzyingly virtuosic scale passages; Sam Jones is strong, right there with them. Every time I hear it I almost have to restrain myself from laughing out loud it's so good. Why was this kind of exuberance so rare with LaFaro and Motian? In the end, I'm left feeling robbed of some great music knowing that Philly Joe, Sam Jones, and Evans didn't form a working group first.
* * * * * * * * * *
Some of the '61 Vanguard fanatics might also carp that the pianist hadn't yet perfected the elaborate system of inner voicings that became one of his trademarks. But as one who was first exposed to his later albums, I find the starker (and still extremely logical) harmonic and emotional content here both refreshing and invigorating. In an essay on Jean Sibelius, James Hepokoski says about the composer's Third Symphony, "A watershed in his career, the Third Symphony sets out...to restore the possibility of experiencing...the major triad...as a progressively deepening, revelatory event." Although Bill Evans certainly adds some 9ths, 13ths, and other extensions to his triads, he brings the same meaning to the most fundamental western harmony on this watershed album in his career and his art. After all, what is "Peace Piece" but a study of the I-V-I harmonic relationship foundational to all western music? The startlingly inventive improvisation (which dabbles in bitonality as much as the blues)'s startlingly simple two chord figure (CMaj7 - Dmin7/G), derived from an introduction to "Some Other Time," becomes the album's central meditation, showing up in the closing vamp of "Young and Foolish" and the final measures of "Lucky to Be Me," as well.
And there are no extraneous notes expended exploring this fundamental relationship or any other progression. Indeed, the open fifths left ringing at the end of "Peace Piece," or accompanying the devastating final chords of "Lucky to Be Me," are almost spiritual in their nakedness. Really more than ever, the pianist makes each added voice, each sustained pedal count. Pettinger writes, "With the two remaining ballads, Evans creates an illusion that overcomes the simple fact that tone dies on his instrument. Working this magic requires a certain mental attitude; it is necessary to "think through" a phrase to connect dying notes. On "What is There to Say?" and "Young and Foolish" he is the master at this, sustaining the lines with intensely yearning tone and melting harmony....But it is his ravishing use of tone that makes "Young and Foolish" his first truly lyrical trio track and one of those that goes deepest; played with muscular strength in the singing, it touches the heart" (Pettinger 69).
* * * * * * * * *
Ultimately, Bill's quotation about finding "a new inner level of expressiveness" and fearing that he would lose it says it best. Everybody Digs is the result of an artist who is burning to say something and now - finally - knows how to say it. Compare it to the first flush of a great romance or the steady flow of a stream where there once was only a trickling brook. Either way, Bill Evans reinvented jazz piano on this album, with the big heart, probing mind, and hitherto unimaginable sensitivity of touch that made him the giant he is.
How shopping should be.......2006-02-22
One of Bill's finest works...........2003-11-24
A crossroads.......2003-03-10
With Everybody Digs however, Bill hit his stride. He had tempered and became more choice with his vocabulary-around this time he was a member of Miles Davis group. Oleo is a stunning effort. It is bop based, but it is a highly original take on it. None of his contemporaries were quite able to take the bebop idiom and loosen it up from Powell's reigns in terms of a new direction. This harder driving style on this record(a la All About Rosie/George Russell) as other reviewers commented seem to have been abandoned after the 50's. You see a little of it on Undercurrents on
Funny Valentine.
The ballads--lucky to be me, what is there to say. That ballad touch--so characteristic and identifiable was now permanently stamped to vinyl. And Peace, Peace is really a wild experiment with fantastic results. Bill could often be very tidy and preprogrammed but when he did odd things like this he really showed his unique depth. Another example of Bill's capricious and often humorous side can be seen on "With a Song in My Heart" from Empathy with Shelly Manne and Monty Budwig. Anybody interested in this period of bill's playing would be interested in checking out his work as a sideman with Dave Pike, Art Farmer, Charlie Mingus and Eddie Costa.
The Magic and the Power.......2003-02-11
Average customer rating:
|
Everybody Digs Bill Evans (20 bit mastering)
Bill Evans Manufacturer: Riverside ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B0000DIJQC Release Date: 2003-10-21 |
Tracks:
- Minority
- Young And Foolish
- Lucky To Be Me
- Night And Day
- Epilogue
- Tenderly
- Peace Piece
- What Is There To Say?
- Oleo
- Epilogue
- Some Other Time
Customer Reviews:
Quiet Genius.......2005-01-18
Average customer rating: |
Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Bill Evans Manufacturer: Jvc Victor ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B000BM6JX4 Release Date: 2005-12-19 |
Tracks:
- Minority
- Young & Foolish
- Lucky To Be Me
- Night & Day
- Epilogue
- Tenderly
- Peace Piece
- What Is There To Say
- Oleo
- Epilogue
Average customer rating: |
Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Bill Evans Manufacturer: Jvc Victor ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B000FIHBHM Release Date: 2006-07-03 |
Album Details
Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.
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Everybody Digs
ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B000NO293E Release Date: 2007-04-17 |
Average customer rating: |
Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Bill Evans Manufacturer: Jvc Victor ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B0007OE3DY Release Date: 2005-09-27 |
Tracks:
- Minority
- Young And Foolish
- Lucky To Be Me
- Night And Day
- Epilogue
- Tenderly
- Peace Piece
- What Is There To Say?
- Oleo
- Epilogue
- Some Other Time
Jazz Music: