Bill Evans Guitar

Bill Evans & Jim Hall - Intermodulation (1966) {2003 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24bit Remaster UCCU-5143}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 129 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 76 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 41 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1966, 2003 Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-5143 | Verve LP V6-8655
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Piano / Guitar

A magnificent follow up to the Undercurrent album from the team of Bill Evans and Jim Hall – and like that one, a set that features amazing interplay between piano and guitar! Hall's guitar has never sounded better – and in the airy company of Evans, it takes on many of the same qualities as on his famous late 50s recordings in the Jimmy Guiffre trio. Bill's work is great too – almost more tonally focused than before, with perfectly chosen notes that resonate beautifully in this very spare space. Titles include "Jazz Samba", "All Across The City", "Angel Face", and "Turn Out The Stars".

From Miles Davis' Doo-Bop to albums by Greg Osby and Steve Coleman, much of the "jazz/rap fusion" released has been more hip-hop than jazz – essentially, hip-hop with jazz overtones. Bill Evans, however, has featured rappers in much the way a hard bopper would feature a singer – on "Reality" and the poignant, reggae-influenced "La Di Da," rapper Ahmed Best successfully interacts with an actual, spontaneous, improvisatory band instead of merely pre-recorded tracks. Best's rapping style – a cerebral approach akin to De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest instead of more hardcore rappers like Tupac Shakur and Ice-T – is well-suited to this challenging and complex jazz-fusion setting.

There seem to be a flurry of pianoless CD tributes to the late pianist Bill Evans in the mid-1990s, by far the most successful is this release by the extraordinary guitarist Howard Alden. He waited until he started playing a seven string guitar to fully explore Evans' rich and often difficult melodies, as he was then able to keep them in their original keys while being able to round out the original harmonies by playing the low notes himself on the extra string. Of course, it doesn't hurt him to have the talented bassist Michael Moore (who worked for a time in Evans' trio) and drummer Al Harewood on hand. Another thing that make this CD stand out from similar efforts is Alden's willingness to concentrate on the less familiar works by the pianist.

Bill Evans & Jim Hall - Undercurrent (1962) {Liberty Japan, CP32-5187, Black Triangle Early Press}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 147 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 73 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 43 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1962, 1986 United Artists / Liberty / Toshiba EMI | CP32-5187
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Piano / Guitar

A legendary set from the team of guitarist Jim Hall and pianist Bill Evans – both already wonderful players on their own, but really hitting a magical sort of space here together! The record is a classic in understatement – the inevitable meeting of two players who'd both made a career out of saying more with less – and both Evans and Hall manage to make this special sort of sound when working together in such a space – spare, but never short on ideas – filled with color and tone, but never overdone. The tracks are long and dreamy, and the piano/guitar lines seem to float in the air, suspended on naught but idea and imagination.