The Dave Pike Quartet featuring Bill Evans: Pike's Peak

Rating: ★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Herbie Lewis
Bill Evans
Walter Perkins (d)
Dave Pike (vb)

Label:

Waxtime In Color

August/2021

Media Format:

LP

Catalogue Number:

772286

RecordDate:

Rec. November 1961

This was self-taught vibraphonist Dave Pike's second album under his own name. The interest today is that the pianist on the session is Bill Evans, creating a mixture of ebullience and introspection. The liner notes state this is the first recording session Evans participated in following the death of bassist Scott LaFaro on 6 July 1961. This is incorrect, it's the second session; the first was a Mark Murphy session with the Ernie Wilkins Orchestra for the Riverside label on 16 October, 1961. The liner notes also say the Pike session was on 6 and 8 February 1962, but this is again incorrect, it was in November 1961. And while we're at it, an album sticker says this was a four star album in the AllMusic guide which seems generous since Evans had become increasingly withdrawn following LaFaro's death, which was reinforced by his drug addiction. His sister-in-law said he was wandering around New York in LaFaro's clothing, such was his grief and distress.

But at least this session, one of several at the time that included Tadd Dameron, in duo with Jim Hall, with Benny Golson and with Herbie Mann, collectively had a restorative effect on Evans' creativity. This session with Pike, a loose ‘sit-down-and-what-shall-we-play?‘ affair, captures Evans "picking up the threads after his calamitous summer", according to his biographer Peter Pettinger, where he sounds "in neutral mode".

Certainly, he is still getting back into the saddle after his profound loss, but this is business and Evans was a fine pianist and goes about things professionally, doing what is necessary to make the session work. He digs in on ‘Why Not?’, Pike's adaptation of ‘So What’; is suitably bluesy on ‘Vierd Blues’ and avoids being over sentimental on what is a virtual feature for him on ‘In a Sentimental Mood’ – it's a good, competently executed album, but there are plenty of those and this is hardly four-star stuff.

By the time of Evans' Polka Dots and Moonbeams in May 1962, with Chuck Israels on bass, his personal crisis seemed behind him, while Pike would go on the realise his exuberant, straight-ahead potential by moving to Germany and forming the Dave Pike Set with the excellent Volker Krieger on guitar and a series of splendid albums on the MPS label.

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