Bill Evans - The Birdland Sessions (1960 Album)

The recordings on this CD precede the same trio&live performance at the Village Vanguard in 1961 by more than a year. Incomplete versions of these tracks have been previousely issued on LP but appear on CD in their entirety. We are proud to present the complete Birdland sessions of the most legendary of all Bill Evans trios. Personnel: Bill Evans (p) Scott LaFaro (b) Paul Motian (dr) Released: End of March 1992 Recorded: February 2, 1960 Birdland Club NYC Label: Cool & Blue Records – C&B-CD106 The legendary edition of the Bill Evans Trio featured impeccable drummer Paul Motian and ill-starred bassist Scott LaFaro; they made a handful of recordings for Riverside, but their only released live sessions came from their final engagement at the Village Vanguard in June, 1961. The release of these airchecks from four separate broadcasts is a welcome addition to their discography. There are three excellent takes of "Autumn Leaves," with the first kicked off by a long Scott LaFaro solo. Evans offers a stunning seven-minute "Nardis," which is possibly his earliest live recording of the piece that he would perform and record many more times. LaFaro delivers a compelling solo that only hints at the potential that was extinguished with his death in an auto crash following the famous 1961 Village Vanguard sessions. Even with the noise typically found in releases made from vintage radio broadcasts, this is a historic session worth the extra effort to locate.