At the Village Vanguard
features the innovative
Bill Evans Trio
in peak form during a 1961 engagement at New York's Village Vanguard, just days before bassist
Scott LaFaro
's tragic death in a car accident. At the time, the Vanguard date yielded two separate live albums,
Sunday at the Village Vanguard
and
Waltz for Debby
. This LP is a selection from the two previous releases which are also available as individual discs.
The Trio had recorded only twice before: the studio sessions
Portrait in Jazz
in late December 1959, followed by
Explorations
more than a year after in February 1961. Six months later, these live recordings vividly captured a seminal moment in jazz only hinted at on their previous efforts. While
Evans
' extended solos on long tracks like "Solar" and "All of You" are lean and rhythmically incisive, the brilliant
LaFaro
is the real star here. His relentlessly upfront, guitar-like basslines and solos repeatedly challenge
and drummer
Paul Motian
to accompany him on a previously uncharted journey in pure improvisation.
's lyrical originals "Gloria's Step" and "Jade Visions" also revealed a fine jazz composer in the making. ~ Rovi Staff