by Jan Stevens

On May 14th, I went to see the “Intuiton: The music of Bill Evans” concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) in New York City. My first visit to this surprisingly expansive venue was quite an enlightening experience. Let me say, it is a gorgeous facility, with its quite modern, streamlined and urbane ambience and it has a courteous and attentive, helpful staff. Huge photos of Miles, Trane, Dizzy, Louis, Monk (and of course, Wynton and many others) line the walls, along with quotes and posters for upcoming performances. The Frederic P. Rose Hall itself is acoustically marvelous, and with unobtrusive, recessed lighting that subtly changed colors once in a while as the performance progressed. (Warning: If you leave your seat at intermission, get back before the lights go down – it’s next to impossible to find your seat once the show resumes, and the rows themselves are pretty hard to see when it's dark.) I already had tickets when JALC had contacted me for permission to use a version of my brief bio of Bill Evans for the official Playbill program, and I was honored to do so -- which was an added treat.

There was a short pre-concert lecture in a small classroom, (sparsely attended) which was quite basic and introductory, and featured a senior JALC staffer, and arranger and woodwind player Ted Nash (he arranged five of the pieces played at the concert). Mr. Nash is clearly a dyed-in-the-wool Evans fan of great enthusiasm, and cohesively explained about Bill’s work as a composer and a pianist – and how many times he had to listen to varying versions of Bill’s tune “Five”for example (and others) , to get a feel for the right kind of arrangements for this often challenging material. It was only about a half-hour in length, but I got the feeling right then that Mr. Nash’s contributions to the night’s music ahead would be substantial. I also got to meet the renowned jazz critic Will Friedwald afterward, a nice guy who was quite familiar with this website as I was with his formidable writings.

The concert began with Bill Charlap (who also acted as the evening’s quite congenial MC) at the piano, playing the original version of Bill’s best-loved tune, “Waltz for Debby”. The JALC orchestra then kicked right in with the Don Sebesky arrangement (from Sebesky's 1998 “I Remember Bill” CD . The band was top-notch; all great players and readers, as became apparent. There was a palpable respect and even an intelligent sense of reserve and decorum for Evans’ music that was quite touching. That doesn't mean the performance was less than exuberant. It was. It's just that there was no grandstanding or self-aggrandizing among these fine soloists at all -- as perhaps in a few JALC previous concerts.

The Steinway grand piano sound was extraordinary, and I knew we were in for a great evening. Mr. Charlap then spoke a bit about Evans work and his effect on players everywhere and introduced Ted Nash’s first chart, a light and airy take on the harder-than-it-seems Evans composition “Five”. Charlap explained how it was based on rhythm changes (those “I Got Rhythm” chords, for the uninitiated). Nash’s chart was playful, animated, and fresh. He didn’t allow the rhythymic difficulties or ensemble voicings of those briskly- intricate thirds in the bridge to get bogged down or too cute, and I felt that Bill himself would’ve loved it. A fun ride indeed.

After these two opening pieces, the great guitarist and sometime Evans collaborator Jim Hall came out to an exciting ovation. Looking a bit frail and dressed rather casually, he nonetheless got that great sound he‘s known for from the very first note. He and Bill Charlap did duo versions of “All Across the City” (from the 1966 Evans-Hall duo album “Intermodulation”), Evans’ “Only Child” and “Very Early” (which was more of a Charlap feature as it turned out, Bill doing the actual transcription as introduction) and the Rodgers-Hart standard “With a Song in My Heart”. Mssrs. Sean Smith and Bill Stewart added appropriate backing unobtrusively on bass and drums.

Hall and Charlap have worked and recorded together before, and their gentle, yet laid back interplay was a treat. I think Mr. Hall has probably had some better nights, yet he was oftentimes engaging and inventive, if you listened closely. But his comping behind the piano was razor-sharp. Charlap’s clearly-inspired improvising was always tasteful and fun, with logical lines and great melodic insights, and he was more “Evans-ish” here than I’ve heard him in awhile, not surprisingly. Still, let it not be said he was being an imitator. He has evolved so much in the last decade and has come into his own with a rich tone and sinewy vocabulary, sprightly high-note motifs and a sparkling and distinctive technique. Of course, he used lush Evans-inspired voicings (yet still in his own way) , but also had a clever sense of using space and an obvious respect for the whole of the jazz piano tradition. And man, can he swing!

The orchestra returned with another very clever Ted Nash arrangement, this time of Evans' 1962 piece, “Interplay”. They started and ended the piece exactly as it does on the album (with Jim Hall still onstage playing) with the playful yet spooky sounding half-note tenths of Evans minor blues. Mr. Nash arrangement was the real “star” here – a fresh approach with various voices taking prominence in the horns at various times (some of Evans' actual lines from the original being used), and featuring interesting, but never overbearing soloing. The professionalism and the pure jazzy feel of this performance got one of the night’s stronger rounds of applause.

The second half began with Mr. Charlap and the Smith –Stewart trio. He started a solo-piano exposition of Evans’ “T.T.T. (Twelve Tone Tune) and brilliantly navigated the tricky changes as the trio kicked in. Clearly, he did his homework. He followed with what seemed like a surprise, by introducing “one of Bill’s most beautiful love songs”, as he said, and then did a solo version of “For Nennette”, as written, yet with a few subtle, musical comments here and there of a most tender nature. It was warm and wonderful, with not a peep from the rapt audience, and it seemed to bring out the spirit of Bill Evans in unmistakable fashion.

The JALC orchestra returned in short order with yet another remarkable Ted Nash arrangement of Evans’ “Blue in Green” (often credited to Bill and Miles Davis, as was mentioned, although it is rather clear that Miles likely had little, if anything to do with it). Mr. Nash’s intelligent and elegant chart featured a bit of muted trumpet (but certainly not a Harmon-muted Davis impression) and a few short horn solos, with a beautiful cushion of sound underneath. (It should be noted here that when the orchestra played, it sometimes used the fine pianist Dan Nimmer, the organization’s regular).

The band kicked in hard on the next one, Jerome Kern’s perennial jazz standard “All the Things You Are”. This too was the Don Sebesky arrangement, as heard on the Evans tribute album previously noted. The chart is filled with leaps and bounds of altered chords, swirling lines in counterpoint and other musical roller-coasters and harmonic treats, and to these ears (which are used to many Sebesky charts for CTI, and also having used his arranging textbook in college) is one of this arranger’s better works. It was a veritable tour-de-force of one of jazz’s most-played tunes.

Evans’ unique “Time Remembered” was up next, and once again Ted Nash showed his elegant taste and almost limitless color palette. There was a quaint sadness in this chart, with very open voicings and a kind of wistful and airy sound (even French horn and tuba were added). As I listened to Nash’s excellent arrangement, with its inherent melancholy tinged with hope – and it’s faithfulness to Evans’ unmistakable voicings and harmonic concept -- it just reminded me of what Bill himself might have envisioned, had he had another go at it with a large ensemble – that dank and uninspiring Claus Ogerman arrangement from 1965 notwithstanding. (Let’s not go there). Ted Nash just gets it, it is that simple - and his work exhibits great command, finesse and panache.

The band closed with Mr. Charlap’s comment noting that Evans, despite the melancholy, was also a humorous fellow, and just as capable of great joyousness in his various compositional output. This served as an intro to the night’s closer, “Peri’s Scope” –one of those bright and bouncy Evans originals (similar to his "Show-Type Tune" and “The Opener , for example) that percolates along buoyantly. The tune would appear to work with almost any size group, big band included. Perhaps the JALC orchestra felt boxed or held back at that point in the second half, for they seemed to cut loose a bit too much here, in my opinion. Ted Nash’s arrangement was indeed jaunty and cheerful, as is Bill’s tune, but I felt at least a little more restraint in the performance might have been in order. The horns blared and carried on at times rather unexpectedly, I thought, that I almost expected Wynton Marsalis to show up and blow (I say this tongue-in-cheek, of course). Thankfully, he didn’t.

There was a fine musical balance at the concert, what with solo piano, guitar-piano duo, piano trio and the Jazz at Lincoln Center orchestra. Bill Charlap once again showed why he is a brilliant artist at the forefront of the current handful of better known jazz pianists, and how much he’s developed his own voice, since learning much from Evans. Jim Hall made a wonderful night better, and Ted Nash’s knowledge of the Bill Evans oeuvre and compositional genius -- as well as his own arranging skills -- are resplendent and deserving of wider recognition.

All this and more made this evening of Bill Evans' great music at Jazz at Lincoln Center a real and living portrait in jazz.

© Jan Stevens 2010. All rights reserved