![]() ![]() Also noteworthy is Miles Davis’ “Nardis,” which Evans first played on a Cannonball Adderley set a couple of years before. He also introduced “Haunted Heart” into the jazz repertoire, with a wonderfully impressionistic melodic structure, offered space, and depth by the understatement of Motian and extension by LaFaro’s canny use of intervals. For one thing, Evans resurrects a number of tunes that had been considered hopelessly played out, and literally reinvents them - “How Deep Is the Ocean” and “Sweet and Lovely.” His harmonic richness that extends the melodic and color palette of these numbers literally revived them from obscurity and brought them back into the canon. Evans, with Paul Motian and Scott LaFaro, was onto something as a trio, exploring the undersides of melodic and rhythmic constructions that had never been considered by most. Many speculate on Evans’ personal problems at the time, but the truth of the matter lies in the recordings themselves, and Explorations proves that the artist was worth waiting for no matter what else was going on out there. Most musicians were issuing two, three, and even four records a year during the same era. By the time of this issue, Evans had released four albums in six years, a pace unheard of during that time. When this album was recorded in February of 1961, it had been more than year since the Portrait in Jazz was issued, the disc that won the critics over. 'Blue in Green' (Miles Davis, Bill Evans) – 5:25.'Someday My Prince Will Come' (Frank Churchill, Larry Morey) – 4:57.'Spring Is Here' (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 5:09.'What Is This Thing Called Love?' (Cole Porter) – 4:36.'When I Fall in Love' (Victor Young, Edward Heyman) – 4:57.'Witchcraft' (Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh) – 4:37. ![]() 'Autumn Leaves' (Joseph Kosma, Jacques Prévert, Johnny Mercer) – 6:00.'Come Rain or Come Shine' (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) – 3:24.But what makes Evans extra-extra-special is the way his playing drags you in and shares the vulnerability at its core. At its least great, it is merely brilliant. A gem.' Danny Eccleston of Mojo wrote: 'Portrait In Jazz - Evans' fifth record as a band leader - gets you every which way. LaFaro and Motian were nearly equal partners with the pianist in the ensembles. the influential interpretations were far from routine or predictable at the time. Reviewing it for Allmusic, music critic Scott Yanow wrote of the album: '. ![]()
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