Bill Evans Moon Beams CD

Digitally remastered by Phil De Lancie (1990, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California).

Digitally remastered by JVC using XRCD (Extended Resolution Compact Disc) technology.

This is a Hybrid Super Audio CD playable on Super Audio CD players and regular CD players.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

Bassist Scott LaFaro's death in the early summer of 1961, just 10 days after the Bill Evans Trio's triumphant Village Vanguard engagement was a devastating personal and musical, loss to the pianist, after which he took nearly a year off from recording or playing in public. (The Vanguard performances can be heard on SUNDAY AT THE VILLAGE, WALTZ FOR DEBBY and AT THE VANGUARD.) It fell to another bassist, Chuck Israel, to bring Evans out and re-establish the Bill Evans Trio as a going concern. Possessed of a warm tone, Israels' essentially supportive playing with the Trio made for a studied contrast with the brashly virtuosic LaFaro, which was not necessarily a bad thing.

As if to make up for lost time, the newly reconstituted trio recorded two albums' worth of material in June and May of 1962. MOONBEAMS is the "softer" of the two and introduced two graceful Evan's originals, "Re: Person I Knew" (an anagram of producer Orrin Keepnews's name) and the lyrical fugue "Very Early." While any of the early Riverside albums make an excellent introduction to Bill Evans, MOONBEAMS is perhaps the most exquisitely romantic of the bunch, much like Coltrane's BALLADS in this respect.

Bassist Scott LaFaro's death in the early summer of 1961, just 10 days after the Bill Evans Trio's triumphant Village Vanguard engagement was a devastating personal and musical loss to the pianist, after which he took nearly a year off from recording or playing in public. (The Vanguard performances can be heard on SUNDAY AT THE VILLAGE, WALTZ FOR DEBBY and AT THE VANGUARD.) It fell to another bassist, Chuck Israel, to bring Evans out and re-establish the Bill Evans Trio as a going concern. Possessed of a warm tone, Israels' essentially supportive playing with the Trio made for a studied contrast with the brashly virtuosic LaFaro, which was not necessarily a bad thing.

Recorded at Sound Makers, Inc, New York, New York on May 17 & 29 and June 2, 1962. Originally released on Riverside (9428). Includes liner notes by Joe Goldberg.

Bill Evans Trio: Bill Evans (piano); Chuck Israels (bass); Paul Motian (drums).