The influential pianist Bill Evans has so many available recordings that even hard-core fans need a reason or two to acquire yet another live release. The latest posthumous release is Behind The Dikes - The 1969 Netherlands Recordings, a double-CD (or triple-LP) set has several attributes to recommend it. First, Evans and his trio with Eddie Gomez on bass and Marty Morell on drums are in superb form for the Hilversum session of March 26, which takes up all of the first CD plus three songs on disc 2. The sound quality is exceptionally good as well, since the performance was recorded in a studio with an audience. As Morell tells co-producer Zev Feldman, in Holland “the audiences absolutely loved Bill. Bill could do no wrong.” You can practically feel the energy that the crowd supplies to the band, inspiring a first-rate performance. Then there’s the fact that while Evans generally chose his tunes from a relatively limited batch of songs, the Hilversum show includes the only known Evans recording of Duke Ellington’s I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart. It’s one of the highlights of the set, along with especially fine versions of the perennial favorite Waltz For Debby and the hard-swinging set closer, Someday My Prince Will Come. Evans typically gave a lot of solo space to his bassist, but the pianist seems to have been in an expansive mood for this show, and bass solos are held to a minimum. Two more tracks that make this a desirable acquisition for Evans’ many devotees are Enrique Granados’ Granadas and Gabriel Fauré’s Pavane featuring the trio accompanied by the Metropole Orkest and recorded the night before the Hilversum trio set. The arrangements were by Claus Ogerman, orchestrated for a 1965 Verve album. Evans had been playing both pieces since sometime in the Fifties; a solo piano medley of the two turned up on Practice Tape No. 1, officially released on E3 Records. These two tracks were recorded for Dutch radio, though not broadcast at the time. It’s not exactly my cup of tea, but the nine minutes provide a glimpse of Evans’ work in a different light than the usual trio setting. Filling out the set is the trio’s complete set of six tracks from a festival concert recorded in Amsterdam towards the end of the year. The ever-resourceful Gomez is more prominently featured on this occasion. There’s a 32 page booklet as part of the CD set, with period photos, reminiscences and profiles of the Dutch presenters by music journalist Bert Vuijsje, interviews with Eddie Gomez (“It was a very special time in my life.”) and Marty Morell (“... my dream gig ...”), a talk with pianist Vijay Iyer about Evans’ legacy, and more. It seems that you can never have enough Bill Evans to listen to, and Behind The Dikes is a worthy addition to the shelf.
Elemental Music 5990441 (2xCD or 3xLP); Bill Evans (p) Eddie Gomez (b) Marty Morell (d) on %, add Metropole Orkest under the direction of Dolf van der Linden, arranged by Claus Ogerman ; Hilversum, The Netherlands, March 26, 1969, except *Amsterdam, The Netherlands, November 28, 1969; and %Hilversum, March 25, 1969; Disc 1 (59:40): You're Gonna Hear From Me/ Emily/ Stella By Starlight/ Turn Out the Stars/ Waltz for Debby/ ‘Round Midnight/ I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart/ Alfie/ Beautiful Love/ My Funny Valentine/ Spartacus' Love Theme. Disc 2 (57:42): One for Helen/ Quiet Now/ Someday My Prince Will Come/ Very Early*/ A Sleepin' Bee*/ Turn Out the Stars #2*/ Autumn Leaves*/ Quiet Now #2*/ Nardis*/ Granadas%/ Pavane%. www.elemental-music.com
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