Bill Evans Trio: The Oslo Concerts (2006) Review

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Bill Evans Trio: The Oslo Concerts (2006) ReviewSeparated in time but not space, these two recordings document the extraordinary musical distance between Bill's early and late trios. Before listening to either set in its entirety, go to "Nardis" on the early, then late concert date, and brace yourself for a visual (and, of course, musical) shock. Now play both concerts in their entirety and be prepared for sublime music on a level beyond anything since Evans' passing.
Sure, it's not the '61 trio with LaFaro and Motian, but it's exquisite Evans nonetheless, even on the '66 recording, made shortly after Gomez had joined the group and with Alex Riel, a European "guest" drummer. No matter. Bill's in control yet letting the music take him where it will. His lines are sharply etched and cut a swinging groove, especially on "Very Early" and "Stella." Riel stays with brushes throughout, inflicts little damage, and at least catches the Powell-like groove favored by Bill on the occasion. Gomez is the weak link, each of his solos another showy exhibition of flying fingers. But he lays down a smooth carpet for each of Bill's solos.
The 2nd date is another miraculous performance of the many that were recorded of Bill's trio during that final year. The music will take you to places that no other performer in the jazz idiom has ever visited--dark, disturbing, achingly beautiful. Marc Johnson and Joe LaBarbara are with Evans for each step of the journey. Though the bassist employs an exaggerated sustain and overdoes the left-hand portamentos, he's clearly building on the pianist's ideas, and he's always grounding his statements with recurrent lower-string reminders of a tonal center. Unlike Gomez, Johnson doesn't merely impress; he draws you into the music. LaBarbara goes to the sticks and plays with the emotional power that the music on this date calls for.
An interview with Bill following the 2nd date is telling on many levels--a valuable addition to the DVD.
The audio is pristine on both dates. LaBarbara's cymbals may be attenuated more than necessary, but that's a small quibble. The visual element is equally strong on both occasions, with stable, tripod camera set-ups and judicious shot selections that rarely detract from the music. (OK, a few gratuitous cutaways to audience faces.)
In short, the only thing that would make this session any better would be the inclusion of a set from the '61 Vanguard sessions. But nothing in this life is perfect.
At fifteen dollars the price is five bucks under what I paid, making it less expensive than many ordinary CDs. There's nothing ordinary about either of these concerts. Even "extraordinary" is inadequate to describe the music on the disk because the term connotes comparisons with other musical performances, whether ordinary or not. Evans was simply a category, a universe unto himself. If comparisons are required, start with Verdi's Requiem, Mahler's Third, Rachmaninoff's late Russian romanticism (as player and composer), the last two pages of Joyce's "The Dead," Mann's "Death in Venice," Keats' Odes, Blake's "The Tyger," Shostakovich's "Danse Macabre," Nietzsche's "The Birth of Tragedy," Ravel's expressionism in the manic second half of "La Valse." The man simply took a popular musical form to another level, generously leaving behind an example of what is "possible"--whether a blessing or a curse remains to be settled.Bill Evans Trio: The Oslo Concerts (2006) Overview

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