Every year for the past 5 years, Resonance Records gets my vote in my Downbeat Critic’s Poll as “The Best Jazz Label”. How could it be otherwise? They find previously unreleased or hidden recordings from the greatest of jazz artists, and bring them to light for our grateful ears. They’ve released a bunch of Bill Evans historical sessions in the past, but this pair just might be the best.
The two discs have Evans with two different trios, one from June 24, 1973 with Eddie Gomez/b and Marty Morell, and the Sept 27 gig with Marc Johnson/b and Joe LaBarbera/dr. What units the albums is that both were recorded at the Teatro General San Martin in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and both were during a time of political unrest there. The liner notes from each set, with interviews with the living band members (as well as other included essays and photos) will give you background on the milieu of the time.
But, of course, the important thing is the music, and where each concert/ band stood in context of Bill Evans’ metanarrative. This is where the fascination begins, as the two trios are at completely different stages in their respective terms.
The Evans/Gomez/Morell team had been a unit for years, with Gomez having teamed with Evans since 1966, staying for a few more years after this tour, which is right around the release of the album Beautiful Love. Contrarily the Evans/Johnson/LaBarbera trio, Evans’ last, had just gotten together, with Evans fresh off of his New Convesations trililoquy.
The concerts themselves find Evans in a bit of a different mood. He gives long time stablemate Gomez a lot of solo spacing, with rich arco work on “The Two Lonely People” and “What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life” while letting his fingers do the walking on “Who Can I Turn Two” while Morell’s brushes dance like Astaire for his spotlight on “What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life”. Evans himself is in a romantic mood throughout, sensuous on “Esta Tarde Di Llover”, lyrical for “Beautiful Love” and passionate for the closing “My Foolish Heart”.
Six years later, Evans seems like he’s had an apocryphal vision as to how much longer he’ll play, as his concert here is more intense and assertive. He digs in deep on an extroverted “Theme From MASH” , while giving a large number of solo intros to his material, as on the Mozartian “Stella By Starlight” , or going solo and solemn as he debuts “Letter To Evan”. His hands are like Astaire and Rogers as they dance together and complement each other on “Up With The Lark”, with the team off to the races on the V8 of “My Romance”. Evans gets clever with “If You Could See Me Now”, arranging the tune to make it almost unidentifiable, while a portend of things to come is displayed on a 17 minute workout of “Nardis” with Evans exploring the piece for almost 8 minutes before the rhythm team joins in, with each getting plenty of time in the spotlight. Evans is definitely checking out his new sidemen, and even gives a vocal encouragement to them during the closing piece.
One of the other intriguing things about this set of 2 disc albums is that there both contain a total of 13 songs. Of the 26, only one, “My Romance”, is repeated. What other artist could change his band and repertoire so thoroughly while still keeping his Jade Visions?
Which one is better? Rita Hayworth or Ava Gardner?