I was the technical director on this show. What an amazing series of jazz shows we did back then. The video quality compared to todays standards is pretty poor but the audio and the performances are superb! And I dearly miss the director, John Beyer, who made this and many more shows I worked on a real joy.
Dear Mr Don, I was a Berklee student from 75 till 79, and I'm trying to find out if there is any register of his performance at the JazzWorkshop (I don't remeber now if it was in 78 or 79..) the bass player was Eddie Gomez. Thanks a lot. Ricardo Simões from Brasil
Don Sears Did anyone ever have an explanation of why they brought one of the great jazz artists of all time all the way out to Iowa, without bothering to provide him with a tuned piano? Such an incredible shame, since the video footage is so precious and he died soon after.
Choughzev On almost every music show I have worked on the piano is tuned right before the show. Frankly, I don't hear a tuning problem. I just hear great playing.
Setlist 00:24~04:56 Re: Person I Knew(Evans) 05:12~12:32 Midnight Mood(Zawinul) 12:40~18:30 The Peacocks(Rowles) 18:48~23:05 Theme From M.A.S.H.(Suicide Is Painless)(Mandel) 23:30~29:06 Quiet Now(Zeitlin) 29:08~35:10 Up With The Lark(Kern) 35:10~43:30 In Your Own Sweet Way(Brubeck) 43:40~50:10 I Do It For Your Love(Simon) 50:10~end My Romance(Rodgers/Hart)
I knew Jazz pianist Jimmy Rowles from the LA Jazz dive circuit & His 2 daughters & Rowles's "The Peacocks" is a Rembrandt... which Bill Evans climbs inside.....
His touch to the keys is so painful and yet so true and colourful. As he plays, he is capable of evoking a poignant memory to the listener in such a way that I feel personally connected to him. I think that's what makes Bill Evans so awesome, he paints a melody with his fingers that goes right through your throat and shows you that he felt that same way too... I will forever love Bill for what he did for me and for all of his listeners
This music can lift you out of this troubled and depressing world of today. This tremendous gift of creative expression and incredible technique gives you some kind of hope that something so much better is intended for mankind than the horrors of the 21st century.
This was literally at the peak of Bill’s depression. It didn’t lift him out. He died the following year from poor health management due to his crippling depression. His brother had just committed suicide.
@@tonalambiguity3345 its heart wrenching for you... thats your perception and a depression you choose to focus on. Despite his depression.. his music is lifting and was lifting for him otherwise he'd of stopped playing wayyy before this time. The instrument is in fact the tool us musicians use to keep the very last strand of hope alive...the last bit of happiness if you will. Does that make sense? Hang in there...
@@deepstereotv Great sense - people who get so upset by what they 'see' should use their ears instead - there is nothing depressing at all about Bill Evans making great music - I agree with you
Im currently 17 and am sick of the overplayed crap I hear on the radio!! I truly wish with all my heart that this music comes back into style in a huge way!
Hi Chitara, I hope you have found a way to hear and support live jazz, wherever you are living. We have a weekly Monday night jazz jam at Petra's, in my town of Charlotte NC. It is a legacy tribute jam in honor of Bill Hanna, the "godfather" of jazz in Charlotte. Some of his students and colleagues have committed to continuing his practice of ensuring young and new players have a place to experience performing jazz for a live audience.
His playing in the last few years of his life was tempestuous, more intricate rhythmically and harmonically, restless. That airy, spacious feel of the late 60's was gone.
I just recently discovered Bill Evans' work and now I can't stop listening to it. Especially this last trio... I'm in awe. Thank you Bill, Marc, Joe! Thank you RU-vid-algorithm. You've enriched my life!
This was NOT Bill last performance! His last performance was in September 1980. I'm not sure the club in NY where that was. I saw him October 31, 1980 in San Francisco, Keystone Korner. His hands were quite swollen. This was a sign of impending kidney failure which finally took his life Sept 15, 1980. Just to set the record straight... I provided the piano, my Steinway "D" that I rebuilt and tuned for Bill and Dave McKenna at the Lulu White Boston performance Oct 30, 1979. I owned a piano rebuilding shop next door at 5 Appleton Street. I lived upstairs over Lulu White's on the 3rd floor. My girlfriend Veronique cooked a spectacular "Canard ala Orange" (orange duck) for dinner that night, and fed Bill and Marc and Joe. It was a memorable evening, one I'll never forget. Dinner with Bill Evans, Marc Johnson, Joe La Barbera, Doshie Powers, Micky Coutant, Veronique Prudhomme, and a piano performance I'll never forget. - David McCord
Do you mean you saw him October 31, 1979? If he passed in September 1980. Awesome memories! I was born 5 years after BE's death, but I have had the pleasure of seeing Jim Hall and Paul Motian at the Village Vanguard, and Dave Brubeck at the Blue Note. I'm glad I went when I did, since Brubeck and Motian already are no longer with us. This is all within the last 6 years.
His last performance occurred during the first 2 weeks of September at the Keystone Korner, San Francisco. He flew back to NYC, was unable to play the next gig at the Village Vanguard in NYC, and died on Sept. 15, shortly after Joe LaBarbera had carried him into the ER. If you look at Bill's hands early in his career, you'll notice that his fingers are abnormally large--both in terms of their length and their width. Add to these natural "tone extractors" (he never had to hammer, pound, or hit the keys) his powerful, broad shoulders (he was no "skinny introverted intellectual," as he has sometimes been characterized), and you have the perfect physical specimen for playing the piano. He had only to "touch" the keys to extract the instrument's full sonorities (not possible by players with thin frames who moreover stand up while playing). And by bringing the full weight of his arms and fingers, using his shoulders for leveraging, he made a piano resonate with rumblings unheard of by dozens of pianists who pound, slam, and "elbow" the instrument. Moreover, Bill was dead accurate--his inerrant fingers capable of striking every note not only with precision but with equal pressure--in the left hand as well as the right, each finger in control of outer and inner voices. He's the only pianist I've heard who could drop drums, bass--and even left hand--and still make the listener feel as though he'd heard the entire instrument.
This was actually recorded at the Maintenance Shop in Iowa and Bill was quite disapointed with the state of the piano. Good performance but I am sure he would say definetely not one of his best.
Bill Evans, we all should study this guy forever, What timing and touch and original trajectories like shooting stars to my ears and heart, Thanks so much for posting this precious farewell concert.
Indeed. Considering now-a-days people will pay $28.50 to see a Guy eat 30+ Jalapenos and 50 tacos. Oh well, we never really believed all that stuff about culture anyway, did we?
Tracklist: 1 Re: person I know 00:00:25 2 Midnight mood 00:05:12 3 Peacocks 00:12:41 4 Theme from M.A.S.H. 00:18:49 5 Quiet now 00:23:40 6 Up with the lark 00:29:08 7 In your own sweet way 00:35:20 8 I do it for your love 00:43:54 9 My romance 00:50:20
I use to catch Jimmy Rowles who wrote 'Peacocks' periodically gigging at LA's SFV jazz clubs I use to frequent.... Jimmy was a kick & his daughter, Stacy on trumpet, flugelhorn & vocals often worked with her dad, Jimmy at many LA supper club venues
"Re: Person I Knew". It's an anagram on the name of Orrin Keepnews, the co-owner of Riverside Records, for which Bill first recorded on a regular basis.
This is such a great performance! Bill Evans was and will always be a musical hero of mine whose playing has deeply influenced me as an improviser and composer. One of the greatest to play the instrument!
people with this much talent I cant understand the need for things like heroin most of us would love to have just a little of his talent. As I hack away on the piano I can only dream to play like that. Thank you for posting this wonderful video
The same is true of many 'legit" artists--in literature and music. When people use Bill's lifestyle choices against him, I simply remind them of some of the sad, tragic circumstances of composers like Schubert and Schumann--or the great Romantic poets, who burned out by 30 (and one who lived into old age--Wordsworth--didn't write much of worth after the age of 30). You can never judge a book by its cover. On the other hand, what if the artist had not dealt with these enormous tragedies and unfortunate choices? Would he have been the same artist? Would he have been "better"? For creative genius, you can't come up with easy answers or logical explanations. It's not possible to pick and choose. Out of chaos and darkness come form and light. It's the price, or "burden" of creative genius, which shows us beauty beyond what most people can't conceive of let alone know. John Keats (2nd only to Shakespeare) said it best: "Truth is Beauty; Beauty is Truth--That is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
I hired the Bill Evans Trio in Victoria BC , provided my piano and tuned it for Bill. I have a recording of that memorable night in June 1980. Bill and I had dinner, spoke of him maybe moving to beautiful Vancouver Island, dreams unrealized. Bill kindly shared some musical ideas with me, a younger jazz pianist and I am eternally grateful for Bill's inspiration. I have over 70 of Bill Evans albums and his genius has inspired millions. Bill's virtuosity, sensitive, emotional playing has blessed the world forever. Bill Evans lives on through his music. Keith Allison.
Is the Evans estate prohibiting you from having it released? If not pls post. If so it is a shame. Otherwise not sure why mention you publicly -have the recording.
There is a CD:"His Last Concert In Germany"(rec.August 15.1980 in Bad Hönningen).It was his last recording date. CD 2022 Westwind Greetings from Germany
I've always greatly admired Bill Evans after seeing him at Ronnie Scotts many years ago. His insightful and highly innovative style was absolutely unique among pianists, there was never a superfluous note in an Evans performance.
Bill played at his alma mater, Southeastern Louisiana University, only a few months before passing. It was an incredible evening; he even addressed one of his former teachers and classmates in addition to introducing the tune. He also held a very nice interview on the CD "Homecoming."
Comments are not worthy of this language and heart ...just too COOL. Adore. perfection point and love this still lives to enjoy. Thank-you for sharing this ~
Can anyone say there are others that sounds like him? Nobody I know. The unique touch of mr bill evans. My piano teachers favorite, thank you jerry Samuel of instilling in my ears the wonder of This great pianist composer.
I was at his last performance, but he didn't show up, he passed away the same night, one of my saddest experience ever. My wife and myself were on visit from Europe.
I was there as well. Joe LaBarbara describes it in his book. I remember the club owner announcing that Bill was sick and that his replacement was a student of Bill “who plays like Bill”. What a disappointment. They should have given us something: drinks, money back, whatever.
Dear Peter: Thank you for sharing this. I am neither a professional musician nor a jazz critic, but in my humble opinion what made Bill Evans great was his ability to improvise without losing the beauty of the melody. He is the most romantic (I don't mean this in a degrading sense) jazz pianist I have ever heard.
Right, he was active for over a year and a half more. We could have been at Bourbon Street that same night. And we saw BE there a few years earlier when he still had Eddie Gomez and I think Marty Morell. Well that would make it before 1976. And of course we were always at the Town Tavern in the very early days, when BE came in with Scotty LeFaro and Paul Motian and they blew everyone's minds. What a genius. What a band. What a loss. Thank goodness for the records. They never ever get old.
Yes, I concur - this was not his last performance. I saw him perform in SF roughly Sept 1, 1980, about 2 weeks before he died. Joe and Marc and I went to breakfast after the gig and worried about Bill whose hands were quite swollen (impending kidney failure) He played well anyway. I provided Steinway pianos for him and tuned for him whenever he played in Boston during 1977 to 80. I also knew him a little bit.
Love his first trio, and the 2nd, but I am loving his last trio the most lately. His playing so beautiful at this stage, most profound, right to the very end. The Keystone Corner tracks incredibly moving. He knew the end was near and was living to play. Read "How My Heart Sings" book, puts it all in perspective and so many records and live videos available to refer to. Best time to get into Bill.
Genius on display shinning a torch for aspiring jazz pianists the world over. Loved the David Bruce comment below: "I knew him a little bit" .How modest ! Many of us would have cleaned his shoes for nothing just to be in reach of the hem of his jacket!
My hometown, Ames, IA! I was 13, stupid, and didn't know who Bill Evans was at that time!❤️ Couple years later I saw a production of PIPPIN in that same space and was freaked out how intimate it was with the actors singing right up in my face!
Bill Evans was the last pianist to express through the keys of a percussive instrument a personal voice that sang excruciating pain one instant and ecstatic joy the next. He belongs in the tradition of the great Romantic artists--like Shelley, Keats and Yeats-- Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Berg, Schoenberg, Debussy and Ravel. Much of what he did was beyond logical analysis and explanation, but some of it can be seen in the mechanics of his physical structure--he was practically born to play the piano. He had broad, powerful shoulders which, when leveraging huge and thick but dead accurate fingers, coaxed from the instrument spell-binding pianissimos and thunderous fortissimos--all without a hint of pounding, forced dynamics, or wasteful elbow movement. Then there's his uncanny control of dynamic scale--his left-hand textures matching those of the right hand--except when, through the careful adjustment of pressure to the keys, he wishes to bring out a countermelody. Whereas many players lay back on the tempo, Bill employs, very deliberately and incessantly, a device he calls "anticipatory rhythm," which he achieves by "lunging" into a measure before its arrival in metrical time, thus gaining a beat and injecting greater momentum and urgency to all that he plays (to hear Bill's explanation and demonstration, check out his visit on Marian Mcpartland's "Piano Jazz," the NPR program that he visited in 1979, just before debuting his final trio (which replaces the intimate impressionistic art of his early trio with the deep, profound and unabashed expressionistic art of his last. There's much more, but that would require another box or two. His life was short, and his career interrupted by numerous setbacks and tragedies, yet he managed to evolve as an artist, the totality of his journey comprising as impressive an arc of development as any other jazz artist.
+caponsacchi Awesome post and I agree with almost everything you've said except "Much of what he did was beyond logical analysis and explanation" Honestly Bill's music is extended tonality within the vein of typical jazz language (basic modes, melodic minor modes, upper structure logic, quartal structures, 0 1 8 voicings, diminished scale and tritone sub logic, etc). He was incredible at linear connection and commanding multiple voices in his texture which obscures much of his straight forward musical language. He was a very conservative musician. My favorite pianist ever and I learn more and more from him every day. That being said, if you think his music defies logical analysis or is mystical I encourage you to learn a bit more and transcribe his works. Beautiful post though.
i love what you say about BE caponsacchi. You are a perceptive and sensitive listener. I was blessed only one year ago when I began listening to the musical legacy of Bill Evans. His music has changed my life. Thank you for your comments.
I agree with your assessment that Bill was part of a very unique niche of artists, and as such was adept in expressing myriad emotions. It's appropriate you compare him with impressionist composers such as Debussy and Ravel, and expressionists like Schoenberg or Alban Berg because I've always interpreted the essence of Bill Evans as very visual, or tonal, sonically and visually. His compositional style is impressionistic, whereas his performing/playing is very expressionistic.
miles screwed him on his royalties, Bill wrote it. Miles offered him $25 in a check lol Plus he had to put up with all the cat calls and problems being the only white guy in the group, and they talk about us! lol
This is not Bill Evan's final performance. His final performance was recorded at the Keystone Korner, north beach of San Francisco in September of 1980. He died shortly after on September 15, 1980. The name of the album was consecration.
Ryan Villanueva www.amazon.com/Very-Last-Performance-Bill-Evans/dp/B004785JGG The trio recorded this on their return to NYC, only a few days before his death.
I caught Bill Evans, I want to say in late August 1980 at a Jam-packed LA Hollywood Bowl summer evening Jazz series concert entitled "Piano Masters" with Brubeck & Shearing & you could hear a pin drop from the top of the Hollywood Bowl where I was seated on that Sacred evening...
Ho cominciato da poco ad ascoltare i brani di Bill Evans ..mi sono innamorata della sua musica strepitosa e non smetto di ascoltarla appena posso ..rilassante meravigliosa... al mare eun connubio favoloso
This may be the most complete video of Bill's final trio. It's 1979 date--in Iowa, I believe. But Bill would evolve much more and in short order. His last complete performance is his stand the week before his death (9/15/80) in Frisco 2 sets of 8-disc CDs--"Consecration" and "The Last Waltz"--representing his entire 8-night stand. The evenness of both hands--the density of the chords--none of Bill's alleged proteges comes close. The piano sings as though from his emotive center.
It always amazed me how gentle he was with the keyboards. He literally coaxed the sound out...can't think of another jazz pianist who caressed the keys the way he did......almost like a person with a lower modulated voice who somehow gets people to listen even when they aren't the loudest voice in the room....
Gentle looks to be the quality he presents in his playing. He played with Miles Davis and set the tone with this style, never in competition. Although I recognize his ability, I like blues flavored piano players whose improvisations tell a story. Evans traditional and lyrical style likely appeals more to the introspective listeners.
I caught Bill Evans at a Jam-packed Hollywood Bowl summer evening concert not long before Bill passed, I was seated at the top of the Bowl in the tree section & you could hear a pin drop as We were all So into every note played & the 'Acoustics were exceptional for this mammoth outdoor Cahuenga Canyon Hollywood Bowl Theatre
Increible ,pero cierto.....que manera de tocar y armonizar......uyyyy!! pasa el tiempo y parece que fué un sueño verlo por ultima vez en el 79 en una actuacion de despedida ......impresionante, con un joven Marc Jhonson y un Labarbera , que me marcaron con un Adios Maestro!!!!!
Hard to believe that this was one of Bill's last performances since i don't hear any impairment in his performances due to his illness so he played up to the very end of his life.
Bin eigentlich kein grosser Jazz Kenner, doch berührt mich das Klavierspiel von Bill Evans tief im Herzen. Eine empfindsame, grosse Seele. Er hat auch seinen Mitmusikern enorme Möglichkeiten geschenkt sich in seine Welt einzufühlen und damit über sich selbst hinauszuwachsen. Für mich einmalig und großartig...
I was lucky enough to see him in the sixties at shelly's manne hole in hollywood owned by drummer shelly manne. At the time shortly after scott lafaro's death he was with chuck israels and larry bunker. An album was made when he appeared there...an experience i will never forget. Absolutely beautiful!!
BILL EVANS, A TOUJOURS DANS SON D N A, UN IMMENSE TALENT D'ABSTRACTION MÉLODIQUE, HARMONIQUE, QUI NOS FASCINE ET FASCINERA, TOUJOURS...!!! SON LYRISME EST TELLEMENT CONCRET ET ABSTRACT, QUI SURGIT DANS L'HORIZON, QUELQUE CHOSE D'ÉTRANGE, QUE INQUÈTE NOTRE ESPRIT...!!! Directement de Salvador - Bahia - BRASIL.
"The Peacocks" is great. Drummer does a good job. Unfortunately Bill Evans could never find another Scott Lafaro. It was like Scott, another genius, was always pushing him in new directions.
+Jon Weiss Well, though that's true, he did find Eddie Gomez, who is not LaFaro, as well as LaFaro would have never been a Gomez. Gomez was certainly a the perfect bassist for Evans when he joined him, 'cause he surely came from the LaFaro school, but had another groove, a little bit more strident, which is just perfect 'cause Evans was undoubtely less "subtle" from the early '70s 'til his death. So, yes, he never found another LaFaro, but he found a Gomez. And thank god he did....
pretty much all the bass players he had in his trios were incredible soloists (LaFaro, Israels, Gomez, Johnson etc), and Evans was never shy about letting them loose and doing their thing - its one of the things I loved about Evans.
I had the pleasure of seeing Bill, I was blessed to be his piano bench, in 2005 in Louisiana. What a true honour to see a genuine master of the craft in action. After the show he took us all out for drinks at the Upstairs Lounge. What a pleasure to be in the presence of such a legend. You're missed, Bill.
I knew, of course, about P. Wittgenstein's amputation. I thought of writing a book about disabled musicians. Bad luck about you missing Evans. I lived in NYC for 6 months in the 1970s, and Monk played almost every night - somehow I never got to see him, and I still kick myself about it.
I submit that Bill Evans was a great "lyrical and melodic" pianist. His recordings with Tony Bennett are a Must hear. Sadly for all of us, heroin and cocaine abuse took his life far too early. His "body of work" has withstood the test of time
Actually, the trio came back to NYC, opening a week's engagement at Fat Tuesday's, on Sept 10th. Bill called in sick the next day, and passed on Sept 15th.
