Portrait in Jazz
Portrait in Jazz | ||||
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Studio album by The Bill Evans Trio | ||||
Released | 1960 | |||
Recorded | December 28, 1959 | |||
Studio | Reeves Sound Studios, New York City | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Length | 43:20 (original LP) 61:13 (CD reissue) | |||
Label | Riverside RLP 12-315 | |||
Producer | Orrin Keepnews | |||
The Bill Evans Trio chronology | ||||
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Portrait in Jazz is the fifth studio album by American jazz pianist Bill Evans as a leader, released in 1960. It is the first of only two studio albums to be recorded with his famous trio featuring bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian.
History
Eight months after his successful collaboration with Miles Davis on the album Kind of Blue, Evans recorded Portrait in Jazz with a new group (the Bill Evans Trio) that helped change the direction of modern jazz.
Most noticeably, LaFaro's bass is promoted from a mere accompanying instrument to one of almost equal status to the piano (though not to the extent that it would be on later albums such as Sunday at the Village Vanguard). It is one of Evans' more up-tempo and swinging albums (the presence of several ballads notwithstanding).
Reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Down Beat | [1] |
Allmusic | [2] |
Mojo | (no rating) [3] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
Tom Hull | A−[5] |
Jazzwise | [6] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [7] |
Reviewing it for Allmusic, music critic Scott Yanow wrote of the album: "... the influential interpretations were far from routine or predictable at the time. LaFaro and Motian were nearly equal partners with the pianist in the ensembles... A gem."[2] Danny Eccleston of Mojo wrote: "Portrait In Jazz - Evans' fifth record as a band leader - gets you every which way. At its least great, it is merely brilliant... But what makes Evans extra-extra-special is the way his playing drags you in and shares the vulnerability at its core. Oh, the humanity!"[3]
Track listing
- "Come Rain or Come Shine" (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) – 3:24
- "Autumn Leaves" (Joseph Kosma, Jacques Prévert, Johnny Mercer) – 6:00
- "Witchcraft" (Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh) – 4:37
- "When I Fall in Love" (Victor Young, Edward Heyman) – 4:57
- "Peri's Scope" (Bill Evans) – 3:15
- "What Is This Thing Called Love?" (Cole Porter) – 4:36
- "Spring Is Here" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 5:09
- "Someday My Prince Will Come" (Frank Churchill, Larry Morey) – 4:57
- "Blue in Green" (Miles Davis, Bill Evans) – 5:25
Bonus tracks on CD reissue:
- "Come Rain or Come Shine" [Take 4] - 3:23
- "Autumn Leaves" [Take 9, mono] - 5:25
- "Blue in Green" [Take 1] – 4:39
- "Blue in Green" [Take 2] – 4:26
Personnel
Additional personnel
- Orrin Keepnews – producer
- Jack Higgins – engineer
- George Horn – mastering
References
- ^ Down Beat: September 15, 1960 Vol. 27, No. 19
- ^ a b Yanow, Scott. "Portrait in Jazz > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
- ^ a b Eccleston, Danny. "Portrait in Jazz > Review". Mojo. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
- ^ Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Essential Jazz Albums of the 1950s". tomhull.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
- ^ "Bill Evans – Portrait In Jazz ★★★★★". Jazzwise. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
- ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 456. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
External links
- Jazz Discography entries for Bill Evans
- Bill Evans Memorial Library discography
- v
- t
- e
albums
- New Jazz Conceptions
- Tenderly: An Informal Session
- Everybody Digs Bill Evans
- On Green Dolphin Street
- The Ivory Hunters
- Portrait in Jazz
- Know What I Mean?
- Explorations
- Nirvana
- Undercurrent
- Moon Beams
- How My Heart Sings!
- Interplay
- Empathy
- Loose Blues
- The Solo Sessions, Vol. 1
- The Solo Sessions, Vol. 2
- The Gary McFarland Orchestra
- Conversations With Myself
- Plays the Theme from The V.I.P.s and Other Great Songs
- Trio 64
- Stan Getz & Bill Evans
- Waltz for Debby
- Trio '65
- Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra
- Intermodulation
- A Simple Matter of Conviction
- Further Conversations with Myself
- Alone
- What's New
- From Left to Right
- Quiet Now
- The Bill Evans Album
- Living Time
- Eloquence
- Symbiosis
- Intuition
- The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album
- Alone (Again)
- Quintessence
- Together Again
- Crosscurrents
- I Will Say Goodbye
- You Must Believe in Spring
- New Conversations
- Affinity
- We Will Meet Again
albums
- Sunday at the Village Vanguard
- Waltz for Debby
- Time Remembered
- At Shelly's Manne-Hole
- Bill Evans at Town Hall
- The Bill Evans Trio "Live"
- California Here I Come
- Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival
- Jazzhouse
- You're Gonna Hear from Me
- Montreux II
- The Tokyo Concert
- Half Moon Bay
- Since We Met
- Re: Person I Knew
- But Beautiful
- Blue in Green: The Concert in Canada
- Montreux III
- Getting Sentimental
- Live in Buenos Aires 1979
- Homecoming
- The Paris Concert: Edition One
- The Paris Concert: Edition Two
- Turn Out the Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings
- Letter to Evan
- Turn Out the Stars
- The Last Waltz: The Final Recordings
- Consecration: The Final Recordings Part 2
albums
- Piano Player
- "Waltz for Debby"
- "Funkallero"
- "Blue in Green"
- "Flamenco Sketches"
- "Time Remembered"
- "Peace Piece"
members
- Monty Budwig
- Larry Bunker
- Jack DeJohnette
- Eddie Gómez
- Chuck Israels
- Marc Johnson
- Philly Joe Jones
- Sam Jones
- Teddy Kotick
- Joe LaBarbera
- Scott LaFaro
- Michael Moore
- Marty Morell
- Paul Motian
- Gary Peacock
musicians
articles