Bill Evans' career is usually broken up into two trios, the first with bassist Scott Lafaro and drummer Paul Motian, and the second with Eddie Gomez and various drummers. Present here is the second trio in one of its earliest incarnations, with Philly Joe Jones on drums. The recording was done live at the Village Vanguard in New York City.
It has been written that Philly Joe Jones and Bill Evans shared a special relationship. The musical rapport is evident (incidentally the two were also heroin buddies...makes you wonder), and Jones was really the only drummer to get Evans to play as extrovertedly as he does here. That aggressiveness lends itself to an excellent performance; not only is the playing more energetic, it is group interplay of the highest level. The Evans-LaFaro-Motian trio, as touched upon in the liner notes of this album, was really more of a piano and bass duet, as LaFaro was often as busy or busier than Evans, while Motian was largely in the background keeping time albeit in interesting ways. In this trio, however, Jones interacts with Evans rhythmically just as much as Gomez does, if not more, and of course Gomez and Jones are clearly listening to each other. The result is a many-layered web of counterpoint playing, the most remarkable of which is on the title cut. There are so many moments when Evans and Jones line up rhythmically on beat displacements and Gomez fills in the space, or Evans fills up the space between Gomez and Jones, or the three line up hits in succession. Of course, none of this is worked out; it is the complexity and intricacy of three master musicians really listening to each other. All of this coming from three guys who had barely started playing together. Given time they would have become even tighter but apparently Jones had some issues that forced him from the group.
I didn't really like Philly Joe Jones before this record. I appreciated him as part of Miles' first great quintet but something about the way he uses his snare drum used to bother me. But he fits in brilliantly here and it's easy to hear what Miles heard in him. I think the Miles quote was something like "I'd rather have Philly Joe out there with one arm and in his underwear than anyone else."
Bill Evans albums of all shapes and sizes are accessible to anyone. He is one of the precious few artists who creates completely interesting, sophisticated music which is also listenable to the most timid listener. There is nothing to fear here for even the novice listener, so buy this and hear three masters at the top of their game.