Review Summary: Turn Out The Stars
OK so I think I write reviews on our beloved sputnikmusic.com for several reasons:
1. Giving records I love some time under the digital grey sun
2. Providing said albums with a place to vent my (and others’?) love for said albums by means of heavily-used, non-stop active comment sections
3. Organising my thoughts regarding the record in question
4. Learning something new about old favourites
All of the above are true for the three Bill Evans
Live in Paris 1972 records. These darlings have been with me for quite a while now, and have been on constant heavy rotation since I first got to know them. Part of this staying power certainly is caused by their applicability for many different settings. They work both in a ‘paying full attention, pick them apart’ mood as well as when I look for something to put on while doing other stuff. Unsurprisingly, they accompanied me through such diverse times as moments of stress (oh how relaxing they are!), relaxed Sunday mornings (yeah, that’s a word you’ll read often here), dinners (digestive music!), daily book reading hours (perfect background for adventures of gunslinger Roland and his Ka Tet, Tengo and Aomame, and, strangely, Jean Valjean), 3000+km flights across Europe (try to be uncomfortable while listening to these records, even airplane seats won’t manage that!), and many other (dis)similar situations.
These three records are part of a single whole. Together, they form a sprawling, almost three hour dive into some of jazz music’s most beloved standards. This being the case, I wanted to do something different with my review as well. I wrote this piece as one single text, divided in three parts. Each part consists of a short bio of one of the members of Evans’ trio at the time of recording. This approach is even more so fitting since Bill Evans is mostly remembered for his work as a leader of a trio, with his most acclaimed and universally loved work being created in this setting, and his recording output being dominated by this configuration as well.
The reviews will be posted * la sputnik-rules, only releasing the next entry when the previous one has left the home page. So if you are reading along in real-time, sorry for the cliffhangers! Yet if you are from the future, good for you! Put these wonderful records on and relax!
As a quick note, do not confuse these three records with
The Paris Concert double album released on Elektra Musician in 1979. On that session, Evans was accompanied by Marc Johnson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums. The three part review here discusses the
Live in Paris 1972 concert, released through Frances’ Concert in 1988 (volumes 1 and 2) and 1989 (volume 3).
Now that these details are out of the way, onto the first member of the trio!
Marty Morell
(New York, February 25, 1944)
I thought it would be fitting to start with the least talked about member of Bill’s
Live in Paris 1972 trio and work our way up from there. Sorry, Mr Morell, that has to be you. Although Morell was Evan’s longest sitting drummer, joining the trio in 1968 and leaving seven years later, in 1975, in the eyes of many, his work with Evans is eclipsed by the latter’s previous successes. This does not say much about the quality of Morell’s work with Evans though, since among those highs are all-time jazz classics such as
Sunday at the Village Vanguard (1961) and
Waltz for Debby (1962). Morell was a perfect match for Evans and Gomez, never overstaying his welcome or unjustly claiming the centre spot, but always knowing when to stick to the groove and providing room for the others. The Evans-Gomez-Morell combo often operates in perfect unison, which can clearly be heard on these three volumes.
From the moment Morell joined the trio in 1968, Evans was greatly satisfied by the drummer's work. Evans even reportedly said about Morell’s drumming with the trio that it sounded as though he had been playing with him and Eddie forever. Maybe this is caused by Morell intimately knowing Evans’ work for a long time before joining. Morell’s stance towards the role of a drummer in jazz music also fitted the piano trio setting very well. As Morell describes in a 2012 interview: “I was just trying to get with the groove. I was trying to free-up and follow my instincts. That’s when jazz is at its best. It’s control without control. (…) I’m trying to put everything out and be in the moment and trust my instincts and trust my ability to hear in relation to what’s coming at me from Bill. At that point, your unconscious reacts to the stimulus. I’m listening for enjoyment. It’s a thrill to hear that kind of music coming at you, and you’re in the middle of it. That’s high on the list—sheer joy and pleasure. We were at our best when we were in touch with each other and enjoying the discourse.” And, boy, can you hear that joyful discourse on this
Live in Paris 1972 set!
Another aspect that Morell brought to the trio was a sense of restraint. An often heard saying about Evans’ work in the ‘70s is that it sounded as if he was always in a hurry. Morell acknowledges this sense of urgency, attributing it to Evans’ joy at playing and his investment in the music, commenting this was true for most pianists. “But on nights when Eddie and I could harness that energy, and we were tight and could pull on the reigns and keep his energy from rushing forward, we would burn.” A perfect example would be “Gloria’s Step”, with its relentless propulsion and joyful hammering. This interplay between the driving pulse of the keys, the melodic support and rhythmic groove of the bass, and the tight-yet-loose drumming of Morell are at the heart of these three disk’s success.
Evans biographer Peter Pettinger said about Morell’s work with the trio that he was “an unsung stalwart of piano trio history”, with him being responsible for “an exceedingly tight unit that could swing and drive relentlessly”, being able to play the drums “as snappy and precise as could be” but also never failing “to provide a listening cushion of the utmost delicacy” when that was needed, for instance on ballads such as “What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life”. In those moments, Morell was seemed “to imbue his drums with the ability to breathe of their own volition, and always in expressive union with his leader”. High praise indeed, yet wholly deserved. Morell himself said in a 1970 interview that he switched from his work as a symphony orchestra drummer (he was classically trained) to jazz because it gave him more room for self-expression. And that sense of feeling, that self-expression, is what you get when you hear him play.
Personally, and until now, quite secretly, I’ve always preferred the Morell albums to the Motian ones, regardless of his exceptional, wonderfully flowing and expressive playing. Maybe this is because I’ve heard these three records so often, and when I hear Bill Evans I always automatically crave for Morell’s ultra steady, precise, and heartfelt drumming. Maybe it is because the Morell albums are among the first Evans albums I actually heard. Or maybe, just maaaybe, it is because here we have a group in perfect unison, an adult version of the wild experimentation in the Motian years. Thank you, Marty Morell, for creating these wonderful records that will always be here for us when we are in need for some perfect jazz (read: always).
Part two of this three part review can be found here https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/87599/Bill-Evans-Live-In-Paris-1972-Vol-2/
Track list Volume 1
Présentation (introduction by André Francis, in French) 1:34
Re: Person I Knew 8:48
Turn Out The Stars 5:04
Gloria’s Step 8:32
Two Lonely People 8:10
Waltz For Debby 8:42
What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life 5:40
