Bill Evans & Scott LaFaro Rehearsing My Foolish Heart 1960 

What a gift.

I had the honor and pleasure of watching Barry Harris rehearse Rufus Reid for the For the Moment LP when the scheduled bassist gave a last-minute cancelation notice. This was the pre personal electronics era. Little black address books came out of the pockets of Barry's friends assembled for the recording. Calls were made from the club pay phone. It was quite a night.

There's NOTHING supernatural about this wonderful music. It comes only from the talent of the humans playing it. You don't get to write in anything extra because you're superstitious.

long live ron carter ‼️

Fascinating to hear Bill trying to demo the root movement in the second ending to Scottie. Then all of sudden Scottie sings a little melody and plays the ascending bass line he likes. A little more discussion and then some synthesis. I really got to play this on a better system and try to hear more of their conversation.

Wow, so blessed to be able to listen in to this interchange! Thank you! I was in high school in 1960; for many years i thought they played it in Bb but of course they played it in A (as a kid that seemed unimaginable to me). I prefer trying to play it in A now, works better for the bass too! Thank the powers for these guys, and Ron Carter too . They all totally enriched my life!

You remain one of a very short list of living musicians, who had intimate first hand engagement with the beauty of the music created by these and so many of the other titans, whose work we will appreciate for generations to come. Your presence and comments are almost synonymous with a window into their very souls, time, and place; may they all who have departed rest in peace. ✝️ Here's wishing you continued good health, happiness, and creativity Maestro. Also, a sincere thanks for all the musical memories you too have created along the way. 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

Thats true. Ive heard the same by Bill Evan Evans himself during the performance he did in 1970 in Ikka Kuusisto home. I wonder just the same... Maybe this was part of the preparation for the recording of the Village Sessions. I guess they get together at Bills place in order to prepare the setlist and discuss the way they want the tunes to develop... Good call Jay.

I wouldn’t say they rehearsed much but with a new tune they would “rehearse” a little in the beginning just to get their bearings about what they’re looking for.

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The sound is perfect. Try to adjust your listening.

Thanks for mentioning that!!! This session simply going through the written changes without substitutions except one or two logical descending chromatic voice leadings to smooth and (obviously) connect the chords. They’re just checking …LaFaro seeing where and when best to use bowing. Yep. It’s a run-through.

I believe the trio learned everything by ear and a few gigs.

Everything was written out. Meticulous arrangements. Only the blowing was improvised.

@@randaltomasallo Hmmm, makes sense what your saying. I met Eddie Gomez, back in 2006, and he told me the band never rehearsed unless they were breaking a drummer in for a gig. I also noticed that they never had music on stage, so if you have different info, I’m interested In hearing it. 😀

Bill Evans spent years working out all his arrangements for the trio. They didn't use music, but committed it all to memory. Playing together a lot reinforced it. If someone new came aboard, they'd break out the music in rehearsal. On stage music was never used.

It doesn’t sound like a great piano, in fact at one point Evans said “I wish I could get a little lower on this”

This was released on a CD as a companion to the LaFaro biography, written by LaFaro's sister circa 2009, entitled "Pieces of Jade"

I have the book but was never aware of the cd. Anything by them is a treasure. Thank you for posting! Wow!!❤

I totally agree. There are some spine-tingling moments in there...

Also, am I wrong, or does that passage have a "lightning in a bottle" feeling, where Evans is less analytical and more free? Sometimes I feel that freedom disappeared in his music after LaFaro died, showing up briefly in some of the post-Lafaro solo recordings, but less so as his conception became more thought-out and...alas, denser and even repetitive?

@@SapphicTwist i tend to agree, and even Evans admitted later in his career his earlier playing sounded very different to him. After LaFaro his playing changed as he no longer had a bassist who could be so conversational. After Chuck Israels left in 1965-6, his lifestyle again changed (deeper addiction, got into cocaine) and his tempos sped up. He still had his moments but not as consistently as before. From 1957-61 he was at his peak in my opinion. And 1962-65 was also amazing. He didn't play a bad note in those periods.

well, it seems that the arrangements were already "set" by this time .... rehearsal was primarily for drummer. seems that's the difference between this "rehearsal" and the rehearsal with scott. in any case ...... it's great to see the rehearsal processes in historic context. thanks, cats, for posting BOTH of these links. an eye/ear portal to the past of now.... 🙏🏼

Bill was a lot more mechanical in his days with Gomez