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Village Vanguard session with Bill Evans

Hi folks, could you explain why the Village Vanguard recording with Bill Evans is so famous? What qualities does it possess?
I'm asking this question because I can't explain why the recording is so great. If I'm listening to Kind of Blue with Miles Davis quintet I can understand why it is a famous recording. It is because it has an almost Zen quality to it: the timing was perfect and also the organization of the music --> the musicians played the right notes at the right place. There were no redundant notes.

Chris
dazzdax
aldavis
191 posts
 
Ghosthouse, I don't know to what extent subjectivism is important. It's probably pretty rare when something resonates with everyones conscienceness at the same and in the some way. I don't believe that art is purely objective and that all we need to do is refine our tastes. There are many truths and many pathways which will be apparent to some but not to others as a function of their state of being and not necessarily their taste. This is subjective to the extent that certain vision requires certain life insight which may not be taught in art/music school. - Jim
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
3,718 posts
 
Dazzdax, Aldavis -
I wish you a Happy New Year...
Here is a link to a series of videos with Bill Evans discussing his art.

The first link (#1 of 5) will take you to the site with various other segments and contains remarks pertinent to Aldavis' comments.

See also the 4:33 clip (there are 2 with the same title), Bill Evans - The Creative Process and Self-teaching. I found this discussion meaningful in terms of Dazzdax points about the relevance of economy to the creative process.

Hope you enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm6V7bWnVpw&feature=related

PS -
This site also contains an 8:22 interview with the producer of the Village Vanguard recording that started this thread.
aldavis
191 posts
 
Thanks Ghosthouse. Happy new year to you. - Jim
ablang
165 posts
 
Thanks to onhwy61 for the Gopnik article. Just sat and read it with the album on in the background and got chills--which Gopnik's writing does for me not quite as often as Evans' playing, but often enough. To anyone else who enjoyed that article, his book "Paris to the Moon" is fantastic, as is his essay "The Last of the Metrozoids" which, while not about music, talks about art and a life well lived in the same sort of spirit as the Evans article. Happy listening, everyone.
dazzdax OP
599 posts
 
Ghosthouse, thank you very much for the link. This is truly unbelievable. I'm flabbergasted. Bill was a genius, some kind of Mozart on the piano. Everything he played was a reflecting of his unconscious mind. This level of playing can't be learned even if you are a quite talented piano player.
Happy New Year to you too!

Chris
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