Bill Evans Trio - Some Day My Prince Will Come - 19 Mar 65 (9 of 11)

London, March 19, 1965

For those who know of Evans as primarily a lyrical player, listen to these chops.

Personnel:

Bill Evans - p
Chuck Israels - b
Larry Bunker - d

Set:

Part I

Five (theme)
Elsa
Summertime
Come Rain Or Come Shine
My Foolish Heart
Re: Person I Knew
Israel
Five (theme)

Part II

Five (theme)
How My Heart Sings
Nardis
Who Can I Turn To?
Some Day My Prince Will Come
How Deep Is The Ocean?
Waltz For Debby

Notes:

"Some Day My Prince Will Come" was written by Larry Morey (lyrics) & Frank Churchill (music) for the 1937 Walt Disney animated film SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS.

This is the third incarnation of Bill Evans' great '60s piano trios, playing at a very high level. Chuck Israels' bass work, in particular, is nothing short of virtuosic. His playing shows the influence of Scott LaFaro -- especially in his use of counterpoint -- but he's supremely inventive.

Background:

Evans' first (and greatest) trio featured the irreplaceable Scott LaFaro on double bass and Paul Motian on drums. After LaFaro's tragic death in a car accident in 1961 (at age 25), Evans was so overcome with grief that he didn't play again publicly for almost a year. In early '62, he reformed his trio and hired Chuck Israels to replace LaFaro. Motian departed the trio in 1964, and was replaced by Larry Bunker.

If you're interested in hearing the greatest of all piano trios, here are the CDs to buy:

PORTRAIT IN JAZZ (1959)
EXPLORATIONS (1961)
THE COMPLETE VILLAGE VANGUARD RECORDINGS, 1961 (3-CDs representing the trio's complete five sets at the Village Vanguard on Sunday, June 25, 1961, 11 days before LaFaro's death).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• London
• 1965
• 65
• live
• concert
• Bill
• Evans
• Trio
• Larry
• Bunker
• Chuck
• Israels
• some
• day
• someday
• my
• prince
• will
• come
• snow
• white
• and
• the
• seven
• dwarfs
• larry
• morey
• frank
• churchill

[kirksiesz]

@donkeykongnumber9 The fascination with that self-destruction that makes you say "no dope, no soul" comes from the same place inside a person that came from inside Evans as he slowly killed himself for two decades. Dope was not a part of who Evans was, but insecurity was, and dope addiction was a search for escape from that. It magnified his worst traits, his ego, and hurt himself, others, and the world, as the naive look at him with ignorance, think that dope made him who he was, and follow.

[kenjames64]

@kirksiesz Yes, exactly. Thank you.

[donkeykongnumber9]

A true original, smoothest, most soulful sound. I don't care what anyone says too, no dope, no soul.

[kenjames64]

@donkeykongnumber9 Really? Evans played better because he was a junkie. Tell that to Ella, Duke, Mr. Basie, Sarah V., Smokey Robinson, David Gray, Johnny Hodges, Teddy Wilson, and the countless other artists who managed to avoid Bird's trap and create indelible works of art without opiates. Who knows what heights Evans would have risen to if he'd kicked in the mid 60s and avoided the embarrassing self-imitation and creative stagnation that would mark so much of his post mid-60s career.

[IAmAlexJM]

I hate to see him without LaFaro and Motian, but he never once diminished musically. Incredible.

[kenjames64]

@IAmAlexJM I dunno. I've always thought that first trio was the greatest of all. It probably was, but once I get that sound out of  my head (you know, the Village Vanguard sound), I realize what a genius Chuck Israels is, and what a masterful drummer Bunker is.

[chriskelsh]

A fuckin' genius... amazing genius

[nant2009]

Piano come to have heart, if Bill play it.(by japanese fun)

drum is nice too.

[donkeykongnumber9]

@bigwm They did drugs, nobody put a gun to their head and made them do it. They knew the risks. Get over it. Oh and be thankful for the great great works of art that they did leave us, that will live on forever.

[donkeykongnumber9]

@bigwm Miles Davis? Are you kidding me? He lived to a nice old age and left one of the biggest discographies ever. And I really believe dope influenced his sound at one point. Bill Evans also has a bigger discography than most know as well. Woulda, shoulda, coulda, perhaps if they lived longer they would have faded away as sub par irrelevant obscure musicians who were only a shadow of what they once were in their prime. This thread has practically turned into an NA/AA rant.

[donkeykongnumber9]

Too all who commented on my 'no dope, no soul' comment I was really half joking....Of course you can play great and soulful music without drugs. My main point , to all the people that work for NA in here, is that for many artists, drugs & drink were just part of who they were, plain and simple. For as much as drugs may have hampered their work, they just as much were the muse for great works. How could Amy Winehouse ever written Rehab, or Coleridge his Opium induced poetic visions? blaaaaaaa

[bigwm]

@donkeykongnumber9 I can't disagree more. How about if all the great musicians we revere had NOT been destroyed by drugs? How much MORE of a legacy would the likes of Bill Evans, Miles, Hendrix, Jaco, Donny Hathaway(manic depression) Billie Holiday, Amy Winehouse. How much more great music they would have made? There are many times more musicians who have been clean and left a great legacy, so I for one refute that comment wholeheartedly!!!

[Laffedude]

@kirksiesz Well, i didn't know Evans, but good Sir, i do concur !!

[DajaWaja]

dios loco....bill evansss que amo

[kirksiesz]

@donkeykongnumber9 Correlation does not suggest cause and effect. My belief is that many people, especially the excessively intrapersonal, have a fragile nature due to obsession with self fulfillment and introspection. It is an Achilles heel with which greater traits contrast. Evans had soul, and the needle was nothing but a weapon of self-destruction for an insecure soul.

[ELobodeStepario]

A brilliant Example what a genius musician can make of a simple Disneysong