Bill Evans Trio - How My Heart Sings

This is the second of the trio albums that Bill Evans recorded with a revamped group consisting of Chuck Israels and Paul Motian.

Bill Evans was, in a sense, a maverick. He was a wayward junkie from the Chet Baker circle who nevertheless managed to retain a certain air of artistic uniqueness. Whereas one can still listen to Baker in a fit of nostalgia and appreciate him as a great wasted talent who produced a few “masterpieces” between his Morpheus recordings, Evans influenced every pianist who came after him and has yet to be replaced by a talent equal to his own. Evans can easily be seen as a driving force similar to that of John Coltrane: innovators who made their mark at a time when more conservative ears might have thought there was nothing else to be said.

After the ballad-like “Moonbeams,” producer Orrin Keepnews wanted a track with a slightly faster tempo, which resulted in “How My Heart Sings.” Fifty years later, the recording remains painfully introspective, up-tempo or not. Evans was the Van Gogh of jazz: sensitive and restless—qualities that were expressed in his playing throughout his career. On the title track and Dave Brubeck’s “In Your Own Sweet Way” (two takes featured here), Evans turns inward, which speeds up the pieces and creates an anxious tension between the contrasting elements. The bassist from Israel, who makes no secret of the fact that he would not try to emulate LaFaro, captivates Evans—perhaps more than the pianist would like—and thus contributes to the pathos of the recordings, while drummer Paul Motian continues in his role of keeping time and maintaining the rhythm.