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Bill Evans
Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz Radio Broadcast

Album US 2002 on The Jazz Alliance label
Jazz and Spoken Word (Post-Bop, Modal, Interview)

One of several music-and-interview syndicated radio broadcasts anchored by jazz pianist Marian McPartland between 1978 and 2010 called "Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz." This one was recorded November 6, 1978, twenty-plus years into Mr. Evans' career as solo artist and bandleader. From billevans.nl: Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz series: Bill Evans A historic document is the recording of a radio broadcast of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz series with Bill Evans (The Jazz Alliance 1978, reissue 2002). The session was recorded less than two years before his death, at the time bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera joined his trio. The beauty of this one-hour program is that Bill Evans sounds relaxed and open, and explains many things about the way he plays and what he strives to achieve, offering an abundance of insights into his career and thought process. It is a very clarifying interview, with him playing solo or in duet with McPartland in between the conversations. There are few words left to describe the creative and fertile musical mind that was Bill Evans. This session is a rare opportunity to hear him talk casually about both music and some elements of his personal life and to experience some of the unique, creative processes that dealed with this exceptional musician. It was very interesting to hear his thoughts on jazz music, and to get a glance through his thinking and sensibility behind playing and improvising. He spends a great deal of time responding thoughtfully to Marian McPartland's questions and illustrates in-depth, when she asks him for example to demonstrate his concept of displacement of time. He talks about his idea of the piano trio and his trio members, based on their ability to be given a great deal of freedom and use it responsibly to contribute to the whole. They talk about contributions of the bass players Eddie Gomez and Scott LaFaro to Evans' music. "I try to reach out for things that are natural and fundamental.... I choose the people as responsible musicians and artists so that I can give them that kind of freedom and know that they're going to use it with discretion toward a total result.... With Scott LaFaro it was a once in a lifetime thing, but I have had marvelous experiences with other bass players, with Eddie Gomez certainly for eleven years, and now with a new young bass player--I don't know what I can say about ... Marc Johnson.... He's just gorgeous." He emphasises the importance of knowing the structure of a tune and insist that knowledge must lead intuition. No devotee of Bill Evans should pass by the opportunity to hear this musical and verbal exchange.

Musicians

	Bill Evans p, 1929-1980 US piano, interviewee, album by
	Marian McPartland p, 1918-2013 GB piano, interviewer

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