The question facing the three musicians is do we slavishly copy the originals or do we seek to improve the unimprovable by approaching it from a different direction? Wisely, Wolff, Dorsey and Clark choose the latter option even though to do so requires skills on a par with the original masters and, by and large, they succeed.
The sensitive touch, the gentle exploration and the rich chordal patterns associated with Evans are all integrated into Wolff's interpretations of compositions related to or composed by Evans. Bass and drums show the same, almost familial, bond with Wolff as LaFaro and Motion did with Evans.
Play this in a blindfold test and most listeners would say Bill Evans? An alternate take? One thing that is for sure is that they'd be confused but pleasingly so - ever so pleasingly so.
The title, A Letter to Bill Evans, had me wondering what his reply might have been. I rather think it would have been favourable although he may have wondered why the review took so long to appear on BSH (it was released by Jazz Avenue 1 on March 8, 2024).
I claim full responsibility, it somehow got buried beneath the stockpile of new CDs and only came to light when the leaning tower leaned no more. Divine intervention or vibrations from a passing Metro? Who knows? Lance
Gloria's Step; My Romance; Time Remembered; Peri's Scope; Interplay; Waltz For Debby; Turn Out the Stars; Nardis; You and the Night and the Music
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