Timothy Adorno

Jazz Innovators

One of Bill Evans first trios was actually on an album called new jazz conceptions
this is Bills debut album as a leader in 1956 it was on riverside record label and he
recruited the personal from The Tony Scott quartet, Paul motion on drums and Teddy
Kotick on bass. Teddy Kotick plays a rather traditional bass role in this collaboration
laying down a walking bass line whilst a young Bill Evans plays very energetic bebop
like lines on the piano, they played a bunch of standards and four of Bills own
compositions on this record. Two years later Bill played with another trio, recording with
his favorite drummer Philly Joe jones and bass player Sam Jones on the riverside
album producing the album Everybody Digs Bill Evans, Bill was trying to get a working
Trio together but was failing he had been given a few recommendations for a good Trio
by Miles Davis while Evans was trying to play a club date that was to last a few weeks
but unfortunately for him it was alongside the Benny Goodman band making a
comeback and frankly Bill was overshadowed by it and his trios efforts were thwarted
and mistreatment by the club owners he recalls going through many drummers and
bass players in just a few short weeks because they received no respect, until Paul
Motion whom at this point was an established Small group drummer in the New York
Scene stopped in and so did a young bass player Named Scott Lafaro at the end of the
club date and this was the mark of the first real Bill Evans trio.

The first real Bill Evans trio with Paul Motion on Drums and Scott Lafaro on bass
was the first working group that Bill had that was his own and worked consistently, he
had a vision for trios
Im hoping the trio will grow in the direction of simultaneous improvisation rather than
just one guy blowing followed by another guy blowing. If the bass player, for example,
hears an idea that he wants to answer, why should he just keep playing a 4/4
background? The men ill work with have learned how to do the regular kind of playing,
and so I think we now have the license to change it (PP 91).
His vision of a symbiotic, irregular untraditional approach to jazz improvisation
form was being fulfilled in his work with this trio. This trio is a true seed of his ideas of
his future trio work Like a mustard seed it started small but grew into a great big tree or
in this case an idea that was envisioned but then realized grows with each trio. The
group recorded two in studio albums Portraits in jazz in 1959 and then explorations in
1961 they also released two live albums in 1961 one called Sunday at the village
Vanguard which was recorded in two days at a club that the Trio frequented. The
second Album was recorded at the village vanguard as well and was called Waltz for
Debby; they were both recorded on the same day. These live albums give a good idea
of how the trio worked together live and is a testament to the vanguard being a sort of
home base for Bill. Sadly this great trio was cut short when Scott Lafaro was tragically
killed in an automotive accident eleven days after the recording of those two live albums
on July sixth 1961, Bill took the news very hard and his friends and family were very
worried about him as his brothers wife recalls Bill being so distraught that he had been

seen wandering the city alone wearing some of Scotts clothes looking lost. The
connection that Scott and Bill shared was undeniable
Scott was just an incredible guy about knowing where your next thought was
going to be I wondered, how did he know I was going there?-the most marvelous
thins is that he and Paul and I somehow agreed without speaking about the type of
freedom and responsibility we wanted to bring to bear upon the music to get the
development we wanted without putting repressive restrictions upon ourselves(PP114)
The connection that this group had was exactly what made a spark to push the
group into an even closer representation of what Bill had in mind for his trios though it
would seem Bill had some trouble with his trios as he did a lot of other projects the next
few years though he did trio work with Chuck Isreals on the bass and motion on the
drums producing two trio albums on the riverside label called Moon beams and how my
heart sings, this work is no less wonderful than the previous trio but not quite the same
in chemistry and Bill went through a few personal changes with his trios ultimately
Motion left the group, Motion did not want to travel Europe, he was replaced by Larry
Bunker though Motion did one last recording with the group later on. The bunker Isreals
trio lasted for three years from 63 to 65 but released three trio only albums in that time
and Bunker played on a larger group album called Bill Evans trio and orchestra this was
the last Bunker played with the group personal shifted a little and in between Bill did
solo albums and other group albums, but soon he would meet and work with a new
bass player who was able to work with him in a way that Lafaro did and maybe even
surpass the level of connectivity and bring Evans goals for trio work to new heights with
a young fan and budding bass player named Eddie Gomez

The Bill Evans trio with Eddie Gomez from 1966 to 68 had different drummers
which will stunt a groups connectivity and ability to collectively improv off of one another
two different drummers grace the band first Philly joe Jones and the Jack dejohonette
both drummers creating great work with the trio and these groups gave Gomez the time
to evolve with Bill but it is the next drummer that will create the longest working and
most prolific group Bill ever had the Bill Evans trio with Eddie Gomez and Marty Morrell.
They worked together from 1968 to 1974 but even after Morrell left the group Gomez
stayed the two of them are really the longest playing connection Bill had in his career
lasting from 1966 to 1977 a stint that lasted eleven years, their relationship from the
beginning had a very dynamic contrast for quite a while was very similar to the Lafaro
connection but went past that pushing further into Bills dream in the beginning it was
similar as where Eddie knew where Bill was going and followed him Bill was the leader
but later on in the relationship Gomez started to be a pulling force it was once said that
There was a time an increasing temptation to view the Evans group as the
Eddie Gomez Trio. During these middle ears of his long tenure Gmezes role had
become more and more central to the sound, and, in terms of adventure he had more to
offer than Evans. (PP 216)
Eddie had for a brief time led the group in playing off one anothers ideas still
fitting into the dream that Bill had for his group he enjoyed what Eddie had to say
musically, the one thing that was consistent in almost all of his trios except briefly in this
one was that Bill was the main force. This trio was the climax of simultaneous
improvisation and creatively playing off of one anothers ideas as well as knowing where
each other want to go creatively, in this respect this group is very much like the original

trio. Eddie Gomez left the group to pursue a solo career leaving Bill to form his last Trio
which he was very excited for and had high hopes.
The last trio with Marc Johnson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums marked a
whole other time in Bill career spanning from 1979 to 1980. Bill was addressing the
crowd more and in this trio he was the leading force the apparent leader, this group
released eight live albums and two quartet albums and received one Grammy in just
two years, unfortunately Bill left this world too early working gigs with the group right up
until the end and seemingly never even missing a step playing well until the end. Bill
had inspired so many through his music and the people he played with went onto do
great things some of them stayed in a trio setting showing that Bill helped give them
what they needed to be a valuable part of Jazz, Bill is and was one of the most valuable
and best things that could have happened to the jazz trio since Oscar Peterson.