Village Vanguard session with Bill Evans

Chris, if the only reason I liked the Sessions was the audio reproduction aspects, I'd probably listen to Jazz at the Pawnshop. The sense of a live acoustic, the background voices, the tinkling of glasses, are all much more obvious. But then, I think the music value suffers. Now if it were Evans playing there with those recording techniques, wouldn't that be great. Interestingly, one of the biggest problems I have with Davis (and quite a few others for that matter) is the recording quality of jazz music in the 50's and 60's), especially in comparison to classical. Pop has always been dreck. :-)

Chris, I know this may be an intereting exercise for you, but I would no more compare the music of Evans, Davis, Coltrane, Monk, and many others all the way back to its origins, than I would the music of Bach, Beethoven, Sibelius, Mahler or Part. The threads are all there for the scholar, but I typically listen only for immediate enjoyment. Sorry I can't add more of value to your thread.

I hope you don't mind a little jazz humor, but it is said that Miles was upset about the length of the solos Coltrane was playing (live, not on Kind of Blue). So Miles confronted Coltrane about it. Coltrane explained that once he started on an improvisation he had to get it all out, he didn't know how to stop. Miles replied, "Take the horn out of your mouth."

I think the village vanguard recordings are fantastic. Why ? Well it's not because of the number of notes played or " needed". What a curious concept. I have no idea how many notes are needed to express ones self in any given situation but if there were some arbitrary limit then Trane would have exceeded it by a country mile in his "sheets of sound" days. This is how HE expressed HIS 'zen-ness' and , I think, his spirituality by reciting almost every possible musical permutation in his journey to the bottom of that particular rabbit hole. Evans expresses his soul differently. I like the recording because I see the beauty in it. I don't think someone elses reasons should sway your opinion however. As for kinda blue it's iconic and of the highest quality but I don't love it as much as I do several other miles titles. BTW I am surprised by newbees comment about the recording quality of 50's - 60's jazz. Other than almost always undermiking piano I view this period as a golden age of great quality. After 1970 recording quality for me dropped way off. 1958-1965 was peak with 1961 being the best IMHO. I have no idea why this is so. I might be a bit prejudiced by the great performances of the time. - Jim

If you question why this is considered such a great recording, then you just don't get it. That's not a bad thing. Remember it is all subjective. If you can listen to "My Mans Gone Now" and not see the greatness, you really do not get it. Again, that's OK. For me, this album is much better than "King of Blue". I have always considered it overrated.

BB King said, "It ain't the notes you play. It's the notes you don't...." or so I heard he's reputed to have said. In any case, I don't find DazzDax idea "curious" - it isn't really about "note counting"...that's simply code for another manifestation of "less is more". There's a video of Bill Evans talking with his brother about a related concept (authentic vs non-authentic performance based on a solid understanding of the fundamentals). I don't take DazzDax question as "dissing" the Village Vanguard sessions, rather trying to stimulate some worthwhile discussion about what makes some music great. (Thanks for eliciting the wonderful quote from Miles about Evans' playing. I had not heard that before...it is certainly a propos).