Bill Evans: Complete Live at Ronnie Scott's 1980

Rating: ★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Bill Evans
Marc Johnson (b)
Joe LaBarbera (d)

Label:

Domino

November/2015

Catalogue Number:

891233 2CD

RecordDate:

21 July and 2 August 1980

These excerpts from the first and last days of a fortnight at Ronnie's begin just eight weeks before Evans's death, spanning the middle of his most intensely documented activity. Four nights at the Village Vanguard in early June yielded a 6CD set (Turn Out The Stars); nine nights at Keystone Korner in early September begat a 8CD set (Consecration); while further material from the same engagement filled another eight CDs (The Last Waltz). Naturally, there is much duplication of repertoire and the present release – previously on Dreyfus – uses both recent Evans originals (plus a Paul Simon song) and much older originals and standards. Tracks generally start with an out-of-tempo chorus, before the arrival of bass and drums, and a couple of the standards (‘Days Of Wine And Roses’ and ‘Like Someone In Love’) alternate constantly between two keys. One highlight is the version of ‘My Romance’, which not only includes a three-chorus intro by Evans but then alternates different tempos (some faster than he ever normally played) in an intoxicating dialogue with LaBarbera. Despite it being so late in the day, there's an overwhelming amount of energy in Evans' interaction with his trio.

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