BILL EVANS

BILL EVANS IN NORWAY – THE KONGSBERG CONCERT

Elemental Records

Bill Evans, piano; Eddie Gomez, bass; Marty Morell, drums.

This is the trio from heaven!  What a beautiful discovery of recordings that have never been distributed.  Bill Evans was performing ‘Live” on June 26,1970 at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in Norway.  You get this brilliant music in a deluxe set, with a booklet of historic information about the concert, the venue, as well as a rare interview with Bill Evans conducted by Norwegian critic and impresario, Randi Hultin.

The Bill Evans trio opens with an awesome, uniquely arranged take on, “Come Rain or Come Shine.”  I find myself so intrigued by the chordal harmonics and creative arrangements by Bill Evans and his trio, that I catch myself sitting in my listening room, frozen in place, holding my breath.  By removing the melody from the top of his chords during the first six bars of the song, it changes the whole complexion of this familiar composition. Eddie Gomez steps out with his bass solo very early in the tune and entertains me for nearly a third of the song.  From that first song onward, I am captivated by this album.

They colorfully present the beautiful Michel Legrand tune, “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your life.”  It’s one of the most beautiful arrangements my ears have had the pleasure of hearing, painted in rainbow colors by these three musical masters.

The third song is an Evans original titled, “34 Skidoo” that melts into another of his genius compositions called, “Turn Out the Stars.”   I love the way Gomez let’s his bass run contrary motion to the piano melody, skipping along with a totally different musical conversation.  Somehow it works!

The trio offers thirteen songs, including the Mile Davis standard, “Nardis.”

Every note played on this historic release is perfectly placed, every improvisation works, each arrangement is easy on the ears and wonderfully creative.  The bandmembers seem to be in a relaxed place spiritually.  Evans spoke about the concert the day after this date.

“This is an excellent audience and it’s weird to think that a little place like Kongsberg can hire musicians from all over the world, just because they like jazz here.  I admire the enthusiasm of the organizers, who do all of this without earning a penny for it. … These days here in Kongsberg have really meant something to me.  It’s a beautiful place, and I’ve been able to relax,” Bill Evans confessed.

Morell said, “There’s nothing like playing jazz in Europe – Norway, Scandinavia.  Bill was loved and it was always a special treat, and an honor really, to play for those people because he was appreciated so well.  But then you go to Paris and London and other countries, and it was a similar vibe, South America too. Bill was revered all over the world.”

We loved him at home too. His United States audiences and the USA jazz musicians respected and admired Bill Evans for his talent, his creative persistence, and his genius. This new release captures it all.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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