Bill Evans – New Jazz Conceptions (Mono)

Before the celebrated trio recordings

Bill Evans recorded his first album as a leader in September 1956. New Jazz Conceptions catches the pianist early in his career, joined by bassist Teddy Kotick and drummer Paul Motian. Listeners who know Evans through the later Village Vanguard performances encounter a different line-up here, and a programme that places trio and solo pieces side by side.

Orrin Keepnews produced the sessions at Reeves Sound Studios in New York, with Jack Higgins engineering. Eleven selections make up the album. Standards and original compositions present different tasks, from developing a familiar melody to introducing a new theme. The record's title offers an invitation to follow those early musical ideas as they take shape.

The first Waltz for Debby

One of those ideas would become especially familiar: “Waltz for Debby” makes its first appearance on record here. Evans performs it alone on the debut. This early version provides a distinct approach to a composition many listeners associate with his later trio. Without bass or drums, melody, accompaniment and the handling of time all belong to the pianist.

“I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good” and “My Romance” are solo performances too. These three pieces interrupt the trio sequence and change the perspective. Follow how Evans works around a melody and organises the accompanying figures beneath it. When the trio returns, notice which responsibilities Kotick and Motian take back, and how their presence changes the conversation.

Original ideas alongside familiar songs

“Five” and “Displacement” also come from Evans's own pen. Elsewhere the programme includes “I Love You”, “Speak Low” and “Our Delight”. The selection brings together different starting points and avoids settling into a single mood. Evans appears both as a composer and as a musician adapting existing songs to his instrument and his group.

Motian would remain an important partner in the years ahead. This album documents the beginning of their recording relationship. Listen specifically to the drums alongside the piano: where do they mark the course of a passage, and where do they leave space? Such details give the debut an identity of its own. Its shifting instrumentation and musical tasks make it a complete listening experience, even without reference to the reputation Evans would later acquire.

This edition

Analogue Productions AAPJ 12-223-45 presents the album in mono on two 180-gram LPs at 45 RPM, pressed at RTI. The individual product page credits Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman at AcousTech Mastering, identifying original master tapes as the source. The album is offered separately from the Bill Evans Riverside Recordings programme and contains its eleven selections.

More by Bill Evans: Quintessence · Riverside Recordings

Artist page: All titles by Bill Evans

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.

“I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good”, “Waltz For Debby” and “My Romance” are piano solos without Teddy Kotick and Paul Motian.