Of the initial offerings in
Fantasy's
Jazz Showcase series, the
Bill Evans volume is probably the most valuable to the newcomer, for a number of reasons. For one, it is a good single-disc summary of
The Complete Riverside Recordings box, touching down on many of his best performances as well as some of his most famous recordings, such as
"Waltz for Debby," and a swinging
"In Your Own Sweet Way," and the lovely unaccompanied homage to
Erik Satie,
"Peace Piece." It was in this period where the
Evans' idiom, trio format, and harmonic stamp were cast pretty much intact for the rest of his life, and this consistency not only makes the
Riverside years easy to anthologize concisely, it gives the listener a more rounded idea of what
Evans was about than do, say, the
Miles Davis or
John Coltrane volumes. Besides the inevitable abundance of trio material -- including four tracks from the esteemed
Scott LaFaro/
Paul Motian edition -- we also hear from the quintet with
Freddie Hubbard and
Jim Hall on
"Interplay," and a
Cannonball Adderley-led quartet on
"Know What I Mean?" (oddly enough,
Adderley's name is inadvertently left off the personnel lineup). ~ Richard S. Ginell
![The Complete Birth of the Cool [Blue Note]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0602577850486_p0_v3_s90x140.jpg "The Complete Birth of the Cool [Blue Note]")
