[SACD-R][OF] Bill Evans Trio - Moon Beams (Analogue Productions) - 1962/2002 (Jazz)

Analogue Productions has produced some of the best sounding piano on SA-CD, & this one is no exception. If you want to listen to Bill Evans’ story you owe it to yourself to buy all 3 discs (‘Saturday At The Village Vanguard’ & ‘Waltz For Debbie’ are the other 2).
Bill Evans was left reeling by the accidental death of his brilliant bassist Scott LaFaro in mid-1961 & didn’t feel ready to record with his new bassist until nearly a year later. When he did go into the studio in May & June of 1962 with Chuck Israels & drummer Paul Motian, the “2nd trio” produced material for 2 albums that were to be among Evans’s most popular. Moonbeams includes ballad material from the sessions. The rest of the music from the sessions is in How My Heart Sings! In Moonbeams, Evans did some of his most introspective playing, his sense of loss apparent but relieved by Israels’ power & empathy. “Polka Dots & Moonbeams,” “If You Could See Me Now,” & the others represent Evans at his best, his lyricism underlaid with rhythmic firmness even in the extraordinarily slow “In Love in Vain.”

SA-CD.net Review by ramossp:
If someone had told me years ago, before I had heard of Analogue Productions & Acoustic Sounds, that some of the strongest & most consistent new music releases would be coming out of Salina, Kansas, I wouldn’t have believed them. After all what’s in Kansas? But here it is, yet another solid reissue, another fantastic reworking from the Fantasy Records Vault. Moonbeams finds Bill Evans at his most introspective, a year (& his 1st album) after the death of his bassist, there is a certain poinancy to his playing that marks a real maturity in his work. The opening number “Re: Person I Knew” is a heart breaking Evans original, & a strong start to the record. Evans then proceeds through a serious of unusual standards including “Stairway to the Stars” & Rogers & Hammerstein’s “It Might As Well Be Spring”, ending finanaly (& optomistically) on the light-hearted Evan’s original “Very Early”. While I’m a big fan of this particular record it won’t be for everyone. As Evan’s 1st all-ballad albulm, the songs (while not slow) do tend to have a certain “sameness” to them, & while the ballad format tends to work with Evan’s impressionistic style, by the end you’re yearning for hard bop number. The sound, of course, is 1st rate, with a little tape hiss (old recording), but some fabulous imaging & tonal color. So if you’re just starting out with Evans, the live albulms “Waltz for Debbie” or “Sunday at the Village Vanguard” (both SACDs available from Analogue Productions) might be a better place to begin, but for the seasoned Evans veteran this album is another essential to fill in your collection.