Bill Evans After LaFaro

To follow up on the post in the previous exhibit about the Bill Evans documentary, let’s revisit the 1962 Evans trio with bassist Chuck Israels and drummer Paul Motian. This clip seems to be from Italian television. Evans’s harmonic chance-taking, rhythmic force and quick reactions to Motian’s accents suggest that—at least for this performance—the pianist had recovered from the shock of losing bassist Scott LaFaro in a car wreck the previous year, and that Israels was fully on board as LaFaro’s successor. The piece is Dave Brubeck’s “In Your Own Sweet Way.”