Bill Evans Last Waltz CD

Recorded live at Keystone Korner, San Francisco, California from August 31-September 8, 1980. Includes liner notes by Todd Barkan and Derk Richardson.

Digitally remastered by Joe Tarantino (2000, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California).

In the wake of a sampling from Bill Evans' last gig that came out on Timeless a while back, here are eight more CDs from those concerts - the last of which occured exactly a week before Evans' death in New York City at age 51. The location was San Francisco's Keystone Korner, and club owner/now-producer Todd Barkan kept his tape machine rolling throughout the nine-day gig. Despite some tape hiss, the sound is full and clear - much better than that of The Secret Sessions at the Village Vanguard. If there are any physical signs of impending death, you cannot hear them in Evans' playing. All of his technique and stamina is intact (hear the flawless, rapid right-hand runs on "Someday My Prince Will Come" on Disc Five), his harmonic imagination right on course, indeed inspired in several patches, and each night's work is quite even in overall quality. There is, however, an autumnal feeling throughout the set, and there are few, if any, startling surprises in the by-now well-worn repertoire. "Nardis" is played no less than six times, usually at great length. The final "Nardis" of his life Sep. 8 lasts nearly 20 minutes; as he explains on Disc Three, he continued to find new things in that tune to the end, though it is somewhat disfigured by a useless, overlong drum solo. Most of the time, his young sidemen from the period, Marc Johnson (bass) and Joe LaBarbera (drums) are very supportive. This set confirms what Warner Bros.' Turn Out The Stars box - recorded three months before - indicated, that Evans' last months on this planet produced a lot of prime vintage music, even though the pianist was merely reprising and refining a direction that had been set in stone long before. There are apparently enough well-heeled members of the Evans cult out there to support this expensive proposition - this was the sixth blockbuster Evans box to emerge on the shelves - but non-cultists might be happier with the single disc of highlights from Turn Out The Stars as a souvenir from Evans' last days. ~ Richard S. Ginell

This eight-CD box set documents Evans' performances at his eight-night stint at the San Francisco Keystone Korner club in the late summer of 1980; he would die about a week after the final show on September 8. Accompanied by Marc Johnson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums, he runs through no less than 65 performances, most of them standards, and also including about ten Evans originals. Although Evans was still playing well in these final performances, eight CDs of this might be deemed excessive for all but the hardest of hardcore Evans and jazz piano fans. You could say that virtually all eight-CD box sets are only for devotees, but the fact that many of the selections show up in multiple versions further limits its appeal beyond the converted; there are six versions of "Nardis," for example, and three of both "Turn Out the Stars" and "But Beautiful." When not playing his own compositions, Evans here focused on standards, along the lines of "Spring Is Here," "My Romance," "Days of Wine and Roses," "Autumn Leaves," and "My Man's Gone Now." ~ Richie Unterberger

A moving finale to a remarkable career, The Last Waltz was recorded during a nine-night stand at San Francisco's legendary Keystone Korner one week prior to jazz piano icon Bill Evans' death at age 51. With the youthful rhythm team of Marc Johnson and Joe LaBarbera providing telepathic support, Evans turns in some of the most magnificent performances of his 25-year career. Aware that his days were numbered, he played with the creative drive and improvisational intensity with which he had long ago made his mark.

This eight-disc set's 65 tracks include takes on 32

Bill Evans Trio: Bill Evans (piano); Marc Johnson (bass); Joe LaBarbera (drums).Mojo (Publisher) (4/01, p.106) - "...With Bill as intense and inventive as at any time, it's hard not to hear this stupendous music as the grandest, most defiant of finales."