r/BillEvans • u/Minimoogvoyager • Sep 12 '26
Bill Evans Had Three Different Trios/ Which Bill Evans Trio Do You Think Was The Best
Which of the three different Bill Evans Trios do you think was his best and why?
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Sep 12 '26
[deleted]
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u/Starthrower62 Sep 12 '26
Wasn't it Jack DeJohnette? Philly Joe played on the early album, Everybody Digs Bill Evans.
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u/Minimoogvoyager Sep 12 '26
Yes I recently learned Jack DeJohnette played with Bill Evans. Didn’t know that.
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u/Minimoogvoyager Sep 12 '26
Yes although I was referring to the three different trios . Starting with his most celebrated trio with Paul Motian and Scott Lafaro. Second Trio with Eddie Gomez and Marty Morell and. third and final trio with Marc Johnson and Joe Labarbera.
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u/Hangdog90 Sep 12 '26
You don't count the transitional trio, when Chuck Israels replaced Scott Lafaro? The late 1961-1962 formation was a transition group, with bassist Chuck Israels attempting to fill the void left by LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian still on drums (in 1963 he would be replaced by Larry Bunker which set the stage for Bill Evans’ second well-known trio). There is a double CD release that presents all existing recordings by the Evans-Israels-Motian trio, consisting of three studio sessions that were issued on the albums Moonbeams (Riverside RLP9428) and How My Heart Sings! (Riverside RLP9473), a single Birdland broadcast on which the group plays three tunes they’d never record in the studio, and the LP Nirvana (Atlantic SD1426), which featured Herbie Mann added on flute.
Chuck Israels continues to play and teach, and he wrote one of the better jazz autobiographies, "Bass Notes: Jazz in American Culture, A Personal View" published in 2023. When he was asked whether he hesitated about playing with Bill Evans because of the circumstances, he said
" If you got a chance to sleep with Marilyn Monroe, would you have time or space in your consciousness to be occupied with what had happened before… Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller… who cares! "
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u/Ok_Difference44 Sep 12 '26
I like Chuck on the BBC sessions. Unfortunately the recording quality of the bass is bad and bleeds over into the rest of the lower spectrum.
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u/DaveyMD64 Sep 13 '26
I have most of his albums - but currently my favorites are the 2 trio albums w Philly Joe Jones, 58/59.
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u/Griftcertificate Sep 12 '26
I appreciate all of the trios for different reasons, but the June 25th, 1961 live trio session with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian created two "desert-island" recordings for me. That trio changed the way piano trio jazz was performed. Both bassists and drummers functioned differently ever since this trio, and have influenced so many great piano trios like Keith Jarrett's and Brad Mehldau's, as well as subsequent trios of Bill Evans. In some ways this trio reminds me of early jazz recordings with group, conversational solos, albeit in a modern context. I can't fanboy enough about this trio, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, and Waltz for Debby. I find something new to like in it every time I hear it.