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Jazz Articles » Album Review » Bill Evans Trio: Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside …
On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile, a barrier many believed human beings could never break. Today, any elite miler can run that time, which makes Bannister’s accomplishment harder for modern sports fans to fully appreciate. Something similar happens when listening to pianist
Bill Evans
piano
1929 – 1980
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Bill Evans‘ two Riverside studio sessions, Portrait in Jazz (1959) and Explorations (1961), recorded some 65 years ago. Because contemporary pianists like
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Brad Mehldau,
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Fred Hersch,
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Denny Zeitlin and
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Bill Charlap have absorbed and extended Evans’ innovations, it can be easy to forget how revolutionary the Evans/
Scott LaFaro
bass
1936 – 1961
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Scott LaFaro/
Paul Motian
drums
1931 – 2011
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Paul Motian trio truly was.
Evans emerged during the era of piano giants. There was
Art Tatum
piano
1909 – 1956
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Art Tatum,
Bud Powell
piano
1924 – 1966
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Bud Powell and
Thelonious Monk
piano
1917 – 1982
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Thelonious Monk, each of whom transformed the instrument’s language. Yet in their trio recordings, bassists and drummers typically remained in the background. Evans changed that dynamic entirely, cultivating a genuine three-way musical conversation. This transformation did not happen overnight. Before finding the ideal partner in LaFaro, Evans recorded for Riverside with bassists
Teddy Kotick
bass
1928 – 1986
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Teddy Kotick,
Sam Jones
bass, acoustic
1924 – 1981
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Sam Jones and
Paul Chambers
bass, acoustic
1935 – 1969
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Paul Chambers. Drummer
Philly Joe Jones
drums
1923 – 1985
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Philly Joe Jones preceded Motian. Only with LaFaro and Motian did Evans’ concept crystallize.
It is also worth remembering that Evans was a catalytic force behind
Miles Davis
trumpet
1926 – 1991
”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Miles Davis‘ Kind of Blue (1959), the best-selling jazz album of all time. His two Riverside sessions followed in quick succession: Portrait in Jazz on December 28, 1959, and Explorations on February 2, 1961. Just months later, in June of 1961, producer Orrin Keepnews captured maybe the most famous live recording in the jazz canon, Sunday At The Village Vanguard (Riverside, 1961), creating one of the most revered live documents in jazz history. Tragically, LaFaro died in a car accident shortly afterward, leading Evans to withdraw from performing for a period.
Together, Evans, LaFaro and Motian forged what Evans called “simultaneous improvisation,” a fluid, interactive approach heard in standards such as “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Witchcraft” and “Sweet and Lovely,” as well as in Davis’ “Nardis” and the Evans/Davis collaboration “Blue in Green.” Their collective voice became the blueprint for virtually every modern piano trio.
This new release includes 26 alternate takes, 17 previously unheard highlights and the trio’s commitment to group interplay over solo virtuosity: three musicians not thinking alike, but thinking together.
The music is available as a remastered 5-LP 180-gram vinyl edition, a 3-CD set, and in standard and hi-res digital formats.
“>
Track Listing
CD1: Come Rain or Come Shine (Take 5, Album Master); Autumn Leaves (Take 13, Stereo
Album Master); Witchcraft (Take 5, Album Master); When I Fall In Love (Take 2, Album
Master); Peri’s Scope (Take 2, Album Master); What Is This Thing Called Love (Take 4,
Album Master); Spring Is Here (Take 6, Album Master); Someday My Prince Will Come (Take
5, Album Master); Blue in Green (Take 3, Album Master); Witchcraft (Take 4, Alternate,
Mono); Witchcraft (Take 6, Alternate, Mono); Spring Is Here (Take 4, Alternate, Mono); Come
Rain or Come Shine (Take 2, Alternate, Mono); Come Rain or Come Shine (Take 4, Alternate,
Mono); CD2: Autumn Leaves (Take 9, Mono Album Master); Blue in Green (Take 1,
Alternate, Mono); Blue in Green (Take 2, Alternate, Mono); Someday My Prince Will Come
(Take 1, Alternate, Mono); Israel (Take 1, Stereo Album Master); Haunted Heart (Take 3,
Stereo Album Master); Beautiful Love (Take 2, Stereo Album Master); Elsa (Take 5, Stereo
Album Master); Nardis (Take 2, Stereo Album Master); How Deep Is the Ocean (Take 3,
Stereo Album Master); I Wish I Knew (Take 4, Stereo Album Master); Sweet and Lovely
(Take 4, Stereo Album Master); Elsa (Take 4, Alternate, Stereo); Elsa (Take 6, Alternate,
Stereo); Sweet and Lovely (Take 3, Alternate, Stereo); Sweet and Lovely (Take 5, Alternate,
Stereo); CD3: Sweet and Lovely (Take 6, Alternate, Stereo); Nardis (Take 1, Alternate,
Stereo); Beautiful (Take 1, Alternate, Stereo); I Wish I Knew (Take 2, Alternate, Stereo); I
Wish I Knew (Take 3, Alternate, Stereo); I Wish I Knew (Take 5, Alternate, Stereo); Haunted
Heart (Take 2, Alternate, Stereo); The Boy Next Door (Take 1, Outtake, Stereo); The Boy
Next Door (Take 4, Outtake, Stereo); The Boy Next Door (Take 6, Outtake, Stereo); Walking
Up (Take 1, Outtake, Stereo); How Deep Is the Ocean (Take 1, Alternate, Stereo); How Deep
Is the Ocean (Take 2, Alternate, Stereo).
Personnel
Album information
Title: Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Studio Recordings (Remastered 2025)
| Year Released: 2025
| Record Label: Craft Recordings
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