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Bill Evans - Alone (1968) Genre: Jazz

In his original notes for this 1968 solo recital, Bill Evans wrote of achieving a "sense of oneness while playing alone." Alone was the first album to capture that "sense of oneness" in all its haunting beauty -- the first to consist of nothing but Evan's piano, unaccompanied by other musicians or even by overdubs. Entirely remastered from the original four-track session reels for the first time, this reissue contains seven bonus tracks from the Alone sessions, six of them recently discovered and never previously released.

Recorded September and October 1968 at Webster Hall, New York City: track 12 on September 23; tracks 2 and 9 on October 8; and tracks 1, 3-8, 10, and 11 on October 21

Amazon.com reviewer Samuel Chell:

In a late-career appearance on Marion McPartland's NPR radio show, "Piano Jazz," Bill made two striking comments about playing solo piano: first, it's exceedingly challenging and therefore more satisfying than performing in a trio; second, he has never felt himself equal to the task.

Perhaps both comments help explain why "Alone" is such an exceptional piano recording and singular listening experience. Unlike some current jazz piano prima donnas who shall remain nameless, Bill at no point uses the occasion as a "license" for self-expression or the song as a bare structure awaiting ornamentation and transformation. There's never the least hint of self-indulgence, display, or preciousness. It's all about the aesthetic "object"--the song--and the ability of the interpreter to illuminate every nook and cranny of its structure, in the process making it his own and making it come alive for the listener, often as if for the first time.

Bill frequently changes keys--not for effect but as a means of coming at the same pattern from a slightly different angle. The opening chorus of "Rainy Day," for example, is played in B (a surprising, even forboding, yet shimmering, radiant key) before it yields to the familiar, original key of G for two choruses of block chords that dazzle with their inventiveness while never deserting the composer's harmonic scheme. Finally, Bill coaxes the tune down to a more "comfortable" F before ending it in the tantalizing key of Db.

The primary challenge Bill had in mind with his remark to Marian was the problem of rhythm and the role of the pianist's left hand. The solution for most pianists is some variation of stride or walking-bass piano. Evans is virtually the only pianist who can ignore such pedestrian left-hand duties and achieve equal rhythmic momentum and swing through the purposeful note choices of his left hand supported by the full-bodied texture of his left-hand chords. To say that Bill merely "implies" the time is misleading: the same technique in the hands of other pianists would be thin and static. It should also be observed that Bill doesn't linger on any of his tempos, despite the all-ballad program. Each performance is characterized by efficient and economical movement toward a destination --the culmination of the song's own internal logic.

The churning movement and forward edge in Bill's solo playing is even more evident during the last two years of his life. Listen to the performance of "I Loves You Porgy" on The Paris Concert (Edition One) or to his demonstration on the NPR recording with McPartland or to the half-dozen solo piano introductions to "Nardis" on "The Last Waltz." Unfortunately, there's no complete documentation of Bill's solo playing from this period. "Alone" remains an indispensable recording for anyone who professes an interest in Bill Evans, solo piano playing, or American popular song.

Tracks:

1. Here's That Rainy Day

2. A Time For Love

3. Midnight Mood

4. On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)

5. Never Let Me Go

6. Medley: (Previously Unreleased) All The Things You Are/Midnight Mood

7. A Time For Love (Alternate-Previously Unreleased)

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Rating:
2.5 out of 5 by Book123