Bill Evans Alone CD

Solo performer: Bill Evans (piano).
Recorded at Webster Hall, New York, New York between September & October 1968. Includes liner notes by Phil Bailey and Bill Evans.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
This is part of Verve Records "Master Edition" series.
Solo performer: Bill Evans (piano).
Recorded at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California from December 16-18, 1975. Includes liner notes by John L. Wasserman.
Digitally remastered by Phil de Lancie (1993, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California).
Japanese import reissue includes two bonus tracks; comes in Lp art sleeve preserving original artwork.
The recording date of this solo outing by pianist Bill Evans has been listed as both September 1968 and December 1969; the latter seems the more logical entry. This is Evans' final Verve album. He plays five long solos (including a fourteen-and-a-half -minute exploration of "Never Let Me Go"). The repertoire includes "Here's That Rainy Day," "A Time for Love," "Midnight Mood," and "On a Clear Day." This set is recommended to Bill Evans' completists who already have 50 of his other recordings. [Originally released in 1975, Universal reissued Alone on CD in 2003 and included bonus tracks.] ~ Scott Yanow
The recording date of this solo outing by pianist Bill Evans has been listed as both September 1968 and December 1969; the latter seems the more logical entry. In any case, Evans' final Verve album is one of his weaker dates. He plays five often-rambling solos (including a fourteen-and-a-half -minute exploration of "Never Let Me Go") and one senses that he misses the usual interplay that he had with his sidemen. In addition, the repertoire (which also includes "Here's That Rainy Day," "A Time for Love," "Midnight Mood" and "On a Clear Day") is not too inspiring and lacks much variety. This set is therefore only recommended to Bill Evans' completists who already have 50 of his other recordings. [Originally released in 1975, Universal reissued Alone on CD in 2003 and included bonus tracks.] ~ Scott Yanow
Bill Evans plays well enough on this set of unaccompanied solos (reissued on CD), but the material is generally not worth the intense explorations that it receives. Other than Dave Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way" and perhaps Ray Noble's "The Touch of Your Lips," the songs are not deserving of this type of treatment: "Make Someone Happy," "What Kind of Fool Am I" and a nearly 13«-minute version of "People." ~ Scott Yanow
Just what the title says, and beautifully done. ~ Ron Wynn
Jazz pianist Bill Evans's first released solo record almost glows with an absence of self-consciousness and a pure connection between Evans and his music. This sense of unaffected ease, of effortless flow between keys, chords, and tones, won Evans his third Grammy for ALONE. As usual, Evans's repertoire is heavy on American pop songs, taking compositions like "On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)" to incomparably innovative places with his subtle, probing style. The introspective, nuanced version of "Never Let Me Go" is perhaps the most remarkable number, with the final two CD bonus tracks feeling tacked on; they include alternate takes of "Midnight Mood" and "A Time For Love," and both lack the sense of unity which characterizes the rest of ALONE.
The heart of this Grammy-nominated solo album lies in Evans's exquisite take on Jule Styne's "People," from "Funny Girl," which he attacks from within with very little improvisation, instead utilizing key shifts and his classic expressive use of color tones. The introspective quality which prevails on Evans's solo recordings is tempered on ALONE (AGAIN) by a smoothness and an assertive quality, both of which were characteristic of the pianist's music in the 1970's. Still, Evans is unflinching about revealing himself, and the album possesses all of the tender expressiveness and subtleties of phrasing that made him the innovator he was, and the standard-bearer that he continues