The Night Beat — Last Minute Stocking Stuffers

Next time on The Night Beat with your host Doug Crane it’s Last Minute Stocking Stuffers.

For fans of pianist Bill Evans (and who isn’t), Resonance Records has released yet another outstanding set of previously unissued sessions. Entitled “Behind the Dikes: The 1969 Netherlands Recordings”, it features Bill, bassist Eddie Gomez, and drummer Marty Morell recorded live in Hilversum in March 1969, live in Amsterdam in November 1969, and two tracks recorded in a studio with the Metropole Orkest, also in March 1969.

Marty Morell had joined the trio in September of 1968 shortly after Jack DeJohnette departed to work with the Miles Davis band. “Behind the Dikes” and an earlier live date from October 1968 at the Top of the Gate in New York City (also issued on Resonance) give sonic evidence the trio was perfectly in sync from its inception. Marty continued to work with Bill Evans into 1975, Eddie Gomez until 1977.

While the trio performances are outstanding, I find the two tracks recorded with the Metropole Orkest of particular interest. Bill previously recorded both on an album called “Bill Evans with Symphony Orchestra” in late 1965. Claus Ogerman conducted and arranged all of the music on the recording. It included a couple of compositions by Bill, one by Ogerman, and adaptations of music written by classical composers including the two revisited on “Behind the Dikes.” “Granados”, inspired by “The Maiden and the Nightingale” by Enrique Granados and “Pavane” written by Gabriel Faure, employ a larger orchestra than on the original recording. More significantly they were recorded in a studio that captured Bill’s sound far more faithfully and accurately than the originals which were done at the Van Gelder studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

While it’s true Rudy Van Gelder engineered many classic jazz recordings in the second half of the 20th century, I think his microphone technique and equalization robbed the acoustic piano of much of its natural sound and beauty. For pianists more inclined to stress percussiveness (Horace Silver) or could adjust (Herbie Hancock), the Van Gelder studio worked well. But for Bill Evans and even McCoy Tyner (listen to his albums recorded for Milestone in the 1970s), other studios were a better fit.

It’s been said that Bill’s manager Helen Keane did her best to keep him away from the Van Gelder studio, something that she did quite well (whether or not it’s true) during the time Bill was signed to Verve Records.

And it’s wonderful to hear two of the selections from the original album as they should’ve been recorded at the time. It’s a shame the rest were not re-recorded in 1969.

As for other stocking stuffers, we’ll hear a selection or two from the new Bill Charlap Trio album “Street of Dreams”, Gustav Holst’s “The Planets: Reimagined” by Jeremy Levy Orchestra, and some of my favorite Christmas jazz music.

Stay connected to KUVO’s programs and our community’s activities: Sign up for the station’s Oasis Online E-newsletter today!