Waltz For Debby - Bill Evans Trio (1962)

Evans is one of the all-time great jazz pianists, having recorded with a massive array of artists in a massive array of combinations.

This early trio is an interesting contrast in career trajectories. Bassist Scott Lafaro would surely have been much more famous if he hadn’t died at age 25 in a car accident. In contrast, drummer Paul Motian had a long and varied career and was still actively playing right up to his death at age 80.

Regardless, here’s some classic piano trio music, a bit more chill and romantic than the recently written up Ahmad Jamal, but a lot of the same ideas.

Tracks I Liked

Waltz For Debby - a beautiful tune, and one of the greatest in jazz

Milestones - I don’t think Evans played on Miles’ recording of this, but he’d been in the Davis Sextet until just before this record, and probably played this tune a lot.