RESONANCE RECORDS TO ISSUE UNRELEASED LIVE PERFORMANCES BY LEGENDARY PIANIST BILL EVANS
LIVE AT ART D'LUGOFF'S TOP OF THE GATE - AVAILABLE JUNE 12
HISTORIC PERFORMANCES CAPTURED BY LABEL PRESIDENT
GEORGE KLABIN MORE THAN 40 YEARS AGO
With Live at Art D'Lugoff's Top of the Gate, Resonance Records
offers listeners a table at the front of the stage for a stellar
performance by one of jazz's greatest trios. It's October 23, 1968 in
Greenwich Village, and legendary pianist Bill Evans is joined by bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty Morell
for two top-notch sets, represented here in their entirety. Aired only
once, on Columbia University radio station WKCR-FM, this concert hasn't
been heard for more than forty years and has never been released in any
form.
"This
gives people a good idea of what it must have been like to be in the
room at the time and experience the music," says producer Zev Feldman.
"We've done everything short of building a time machine."
The
credit for the recording's remarkable clarity and intimacy rests
entirely with George Klabin, then a 22-year-old recording engineer
granted unprecedented access to the date by Evans' longtime manager,
Helen Keane. Jazz fans can be forgiven for being skeptical after
countless long-lost jazz recordings have hit the market only to sound as
if they were transmitted over the telephone via a bad connection on a
stormy night. Klabin, however, conscientiously positioned separate
microphones on each member of the trio, yielding a pristine mix that's
the next best thing to being there. This is, quite possibly, the
best-engineered and most gorgeous-sounding live recording ever made of
Evans.
"Being
able to hear jazz up close, as I did in clubs, I was dismayed by what I
heard on live recordings," Klabin recalls. "The sound was so often
muddy and distant and not satisfying. I wanted to capture the intimacy."
The
benefits of Klabin's approach can be heard from the first notes of
Evans' delicate introduction to "Emily," which ring out with a hushed
brilliance while the gentle murmur of diners can be heard unobtrusively
in the background. "This release celebrates the memory of Bill Evans,"
Feldman says, "but it also celebrates the memory of Art D'Lugoff, who
was a visionary and obviously one of New York's greatest music
impresarios, and the Village Gate as well, which sadly is no longer with
us either."
D'Lugoff
opened the Village Gate in 1958, followed by the upstairs club, Top of
The Gate, a few years later. The Greenwich Village establishments
thrived for the next three-and-a-half decades, hosting not only the
era's most influential figures in jazz but rising stars in folk music,
world music, blues, and comedy, as well as off-Broadway shows. Just to
give some idea of how central the Gate was: at the same time that Evans,
Gomez and Morell were treating the audience upstairs to the music
you're listening to now, patrons downstairs were thrilling to the sounds
of Thelonious Monk or Charles Lloyd, whose quartets were sharing the
stage that week.
Despite
that monumental double-bill, however, the evidence we now have proves
that it would have been difficult to top the show being put on by the
Evans trio. At this time, Gomez was two years into what would become an
eleven-year stint in the trio, while Morell had joined the group
literally the same week the show was documented. The trio had quickly
found its footing, however, playing at the height of their powers
individually and collectively. For proof, look no further than the
extended drum/bass interaction on the second disc's "Autumn Leaves."
Throughout
the two sets, Evans showcases his gift for interpreting standards,
playing only one original ("Turn Out the Stars") over the seventeen
tracks. "My Funny Valentine" moves effortlessly from tenderness to
passion, while "Gone With the Wind" erupts at a breakneck pace and
"Here's That Rainy Day" concludes the evening with heart-breaking
emotion.
Students
of Evans' music will be delighted to see that three pieces ("Emily,"
"Yesterdays," and "'Round Midnight") are represented in both the first
and second sets, offering a rare opportunity to compare the soloists'
diverging takes on the same tunes in a single evening. Also, as Feldman
points out in his notes, several of the selections possess historic
significance: both "My Funny Valentine" and "Here's That Rainy Day" (and
possibly "Mother of Earl") mark Evans' first documented trio
performances of those songs, while "Here's That Rainy Day" may be the
first time Evans recorded that piece period.
In
addition to offering this vital concert for the first time, Feldman and
Klabin have labored to surround the music with important context,
assembling a package rich with photographs, information and
reminiscences. Both Gomez and Morell offer heartfelt reflections of
their time with Evans, while Klabin explains his methods in enlightening
detail and Raphael D'Lugoff looks back at growing up in his father's
legendary venue. A younger Raphael can be seen in a family photo
alongside his father and sister Sharon, one of several historical
documents included in the package, which also features memorabilia from
the club and the actual contract for the week signed by Evans. D'Lugoff
also provided a picture of the bustling street scene outside the Gate
from the 1960s.
The
liner notes also include an essay by pioneering jazz critic Nat
Hentoff, an appreciation by the great vibist Gary Burton. These notes
are lined with iconic photographs by Jan Persson, Raymond Ross, Herb
Snitzer, Fred Seligo, and Tom Copi, whose striking cover image is graced
by the original logo from the Top of the Gate sign.
The
album will be available in a 2-CD deluxe digi-pack with a 28-page
booklet. Additionally, a limited first-edition pressing of 3,000
hand-numbered 3-LP 180 Gram vinyl box sets will be made available,
pressed by Record Technology Incorporated (R.T.I.), including a 4-panel
booklet featuring the same content as the CD booklet. This edition was
pressed at 45 RPM for optimum sound and mastered by Bernie Grundman. The
entire package will also be downloadable with an e-booklet (where
available) for those who choose to purchase the album digitally.
Resonance
Records has chosen to participate and show support as an independent
label for Record Store Day (April 21) by exclusively releasing a limited
edition pressing of 1500 units of a 4 track "Selections From Top of The
Gate," 10" record, pressed by Rainbo on cobalt blue-colored vinyl at 33
1/3 RPM.
Live at Art D'Lugoff's Top of the Gate follows Resonance's release earlier this year of Echoes of Indiana Avenue,
a landmark collection of previously unreleased recordings of guitar
master Wes Montgomery. Together, the two collections cement the label's
place at the forefront of both new and archival jazz. "Our mission is
both exposing deserving living talent and preserving the great jazz of
the past," Klabin says. "We look to capture moments that are seminal or
important in the career of the musician and in the history of modern
jazz, so this is a perfect example."
For Feldman, the opportunity to work on not only a Bill Evans
release but a recording from this particular era has been a dream come
true. The producers' introduction to Evans' music came courtesy of the
pianists' work with this particular group, featuring Gomez and Morell.
"This is something very personal for me because it was one of the first
groups of Bill's that I had a love for," Feldman says. "I'm just so
grateful to George that he took the initiative to document these
performances, and it's just incredible that it's been tucked away for
all these years and has stood the test of time."
Klabin recalls that October night 40-odd years ago as "one of the best experiences of my life. This was one of the best Bill Evans trios playing during a period, on a night, where Bill Evans was at his best."
CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO WATCH THE OFFICIAL EPK VIDEO ON YOUTUBE:
Bill Evans · Live at Art D'Lugoff's Top of the Gate
(recorded October 23, 1968)
Resonance Records HCD - 2012 · Release Date: June 12, 2012
Bill Evans - piano
Eddie Gomez - bass
Marty Morell - drums
TRACK LIST:
Disc One - Set 1
1. Emily (Mandel & Mercer)
2. Witchcraft (C. Coleman)
3. Yesterdays (J. Kern)
4. Round Midnight (T. Monk)
5. My Funny Valentine (Rogers & Hart)
6. California Here I Come (De Sylva, Jolson & Myers)
7. Gone With The Wind (Magidson & Wrubel)
8. Alfie (B. Bacharach)
9. Turn Out The Stars (B. Evans)
Disc Two - Set 2
1. Yesterdays (J. Kern)
2. Emily (Mandel & Mercer)
3. Round Midnight (T. Monk)
4. In A Sentimental Mood (D. Ellington)
5. Autumn Leaves (J. Kosma)
6. Someday My Prince Will Come (Churchill & Morey)
7. Mother Of Earl (E. Zindar)
8. Here's That Rainy Day (Burke & Van Heusen)
For further information on this and other Resonance Records releases, visit: ResonanceRecords.org
Resonance Records is a program of the Rising Jazz Stars Foundation,
a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
For media information, please contact:
DL Media · 610-667-0501
Jordy Freed · jordy@dlmediamusic.com
