On July 18, 1969, Evans took his trio with Eddie Gomez and Marty Morell to Italy in order to inaugurate the Pescara festival located on the Adriatic coast. The group was recorded live on eleven tracks that were supposed to be broadcast for radio only. But much to the chagrin of Evans and his manager, the concert was released as limited edition on two Japanese CDs. This release contains Bill Evans' Peccary Festival performance, marking the first time all of these songs are found on one disc.
2021 finds Zev Feldman teaming with the Elemental Music label, to release yet another long lost live recording by an Evans trio, Behind the Dikes - The 1969 Netherlands Recordings.
This is music that has long been available, in an underground sort of way, on bootleg recordings of sub-standard sound quality - something that is problematic in most music, unforgivable in regards to Bill Evans. That has changed with this official release. The sound is crisp and clean, showcasing the pristine and distinctive Evans touch, and the always remarkable interplay with this particular trio, with Evans joined by bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty Morell.
Evans' best trio, with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian - that produced the groundbreaking Sunday At the Village Vanguard (1961) and Waltz For Debby (1962)…
This record is an unexpected treat. Bob James has had a lucrative career writing and playing crossover jazz/pop. Although he had actually started his career with a straight-ahead trio date for Mercury in 1962 and also led a bizarre avant-garde session for ESP in 1965, his career since 1974 has offered very little of interest to consumers who prefer to hear inventive jazz as opposed to pleasant background music. But for this session, James returned to the roots few knew he had. Playing in an acoustic trio with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade, James contributes five straightforward originals in addition to the standard "Lost April," and interprets tunes by Pat Metheny/Lyle Mays, Horace Silver ("The Jody Grind"), and Denny Zeitlin. While not hinting at all at his usual pop material, James plays quite well, takes plenty of chances, and sounds influenced a bit by Bill Evans. With McBride and Blade contributing consistently stimulating interplay, Bob James has recorded what is certainly the finest jazz album of his career.
The second half of the February, 1972 Paris concert is much more aggressive than the first. Starting with Evans' challenging "Twelve Tone Tune," the trio (with Eddie Gomez and Marty Morell) plays a much more varied set that better demonstrated their abilities. Also excellent are the especially subdued arrangement of Denny Zeitlin's "Quiet Now" (a favorite of Evans throughout his career) and Evans' "Very Early," which is a great feature for Eddie Gomez. The bittersweet interpretation of another original, "Time Remembered," is a prime example of why Bill Evans was widely admired, both as a composer and as a pianist.