Sunday at the Village Vanguard from the Bill Evans Trio is part of the newly revived Original Jazz Classics reissue series. Easily one of the most important and continually reissued albums in jazz history, it features pianist Evans and was released in 1961. But it’s the entire trio here that makes this album such a gem.
In fact, for many, it is Scott LaFaro’s inspired bass work and his untimely and horrific death at such a young age, which happened just 10 days after this concert, that mark this album as an historic recording. LaFaro also wrote the only originals here, “Gloria’s Step” and “Jade Visions,” the two tracks that bookend the album.
Drummer Paul Motian had worked with Evans on his Riverside debut, New Jazz Conceptions released in 1957, and he and LaFaro had appeared on the previous two studio albums by Evans; Portraits In Jazz, released in 1959 and Explorations, released in 1961. Waltz for Debby, released in 1962, would be the last album from the trio and features live recordings also from the Vanguard shows.
Three of the tracks, “Solar,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and “All of You,” are each more than eight minutes and provide these legends the opportunity to improvise, interact, and stretch out. It’s hard to imagine what it was like to be in Greenwich Village on that late June night. To hear just how laid back the whole affair was though, listen to the very audible chatter on the first track on side two, “Alice in Wonderland.”
The all-analog mastering was done from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. The record was pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI. The single-album jacket comes with an OBI strip and the labels are authentic period duplications. The sound here is impeccable and so natural that it makes one feel like one is right there in the room. The fact that this album is part of the newly revived OJC series and is packaged to replicate those albums makes this even more of a must-have release.
Wes Montgomery is one of the most influential jazz guitarists in music history. After a couple of albums of his music were released on Resonance, he had a nice run on the Riverside label with albums released between 1959 and 1963. This album, his fifth album for the label, released in 1962, was a live album recorded at a short-lived Berkeley, California club called Tsubo. The building that housed the club was also the home of underground jazz station KJAZ-FM. The club eventually became the folk coffeehouse the Jabberwork.
The album has been reissued over the years with extra tracks, but this is the first reissue of the album in some time. The original single album has now been expanded to a three-album vinyl set. There are two previously unreleased recordings included here.
The music on this three-album, stereo set is not the laid-back, cool side of Montgomery’s music which would be more on display on his later albums on Verve and A&M. This is a lively group effort, featuring Johnny Griffin on tenor sax and the esteemed rhythm section of Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums.
The album also reflects that Montgomery was not only one of the most important and influential artists in jazz history, but was also a fine composer, as the original album contained three of his songs, that are all top-notch works. Along with the original six-song album, there are eight more tracks covering alternate takes and outtakes, and a complete take of the title cut is included for the first time. Some of the music here originally appeared on The Complete Riverside Recordings and The Alternate Wes Montgomery.
This is a beautiful package. It’s a triple-gatefold sleeve with an OBI strip and features lots of photos and new liner notes by Bill Milkowski. The albums are 180-gram vinyl and the labels are authentic period duplications. Unfortunately, this is not an all-analog recording, but instead 24-Bit/192KHz digital mastering from the original tapes. The sound does have a little of the feel of a digital recording, but given that it’s not an all-analog recording and the tapes are more than 60 years old, it does sound quite good.
It’s interesting to note that this album was recorded exactly one year to the day after the Sunday at the Village Vanguard album from the Bill Evans Trio. While it is disappointing that this is not an all-analog release, it’s still a worthy addition to any jazz library and one of Montgomery’s most popular Riverside releases.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
Bill Evans Trio, Sunday at the Village Vanguard
A+
Wes Montgomery, The Complete Full House Recordings
B
