BILL EVANS TRIO - Waltz for Debby

It's 1959 when one of the most intense and important artistic partnerships in the history of jazz begins: that between pianist Bill Evans, drummer Paul Motian and bassist Scott LaFaro. Together they would record five albums in two years, gradually winning over both audiences and critics until becoming, in the eyes of many, the most important jazz trio of the 20th century. But what is this excellence built on? First and foremost, on Evans's style: a sober, elegant pianism, yet capable of delivering solos of remarkable intensity. Improvisations where every single note carries the weight of a boulder, in terms of melodic and harmonic sense - in short, of rightness. Evans also has the ability to step back and accompany, sometimes with just a handful of chords, the more fiery solo excursions of LaFaro - a gift that is often rare among soloists. The second pillar is precisely the twenty-three-year-old bassist Scott LaFaro, whom Evans had met a few years earlier during an audition for Chet Baker. LaFaro's style, while fuelled by a certain desire to take the spotlight, is largely balanced out by the great talent and intelligence with which he interacts with Evans. Add to this Paul Motian's cerebral, refined drumming, and the picture is complete. In the two years following 1959, the trio grows ever more cohesive, gradually approaching that idea of a trio as "three-person voice - one voice", to use Motian's own words.

The musical miracle takes place on Sunday, 25 June 1961: the trio, in dazzling form, recorded five sessions - two in the afternoon and three in the evening - during the final day of their engagement at the legendary Village Vanguard in New York. The material recorded during these sessions gave rise to two twin albums, each an essential complement to the other: 'Waltz for Debby' and 'Sunday at the Village Vanguard'.

Amid the chatter and clinking glasses typical of recordings made at the Vanguard, 'Waltz for Debby' opens with a very delicate version of 'My Foolish Heart': Evans introduces the theme and develops the piece while LaFaro frames it with a few counterpoint notes, and Motian, working the brushes, accompanies with great skill. 'Waltz for Debby', livelier, favours Evans's more swinging side and LaFaro's technique, while 'Detour' is a soft, understated ballad. 'Some Other Time' opens with the same theme as Davis's 'Flamenco Sketches', played by LaFaro, before giving way to a splendid Evans solo in which echoes of that very piece from 'Kind of Blue' seem to resurface. The stormy 'Milestones', rhythmically daring, becomes raw material to be shaped by Motian and LaFaro, who delivers a memorable solo, all pauses and accelerations, before letting the piece fade out. The version of 'Porgy' that closes the album is another example of Evans's style: a sweet ballad that never tips into sentimentality.

Sadly, ten days after these historic recordings, LaFaro would lose his life in a car accident. This tragic event would mark Evans' life and art forever: with LaFaro's passing, the trio lost not only a friend but also the 'anarchic' element of its music. Evans would later revive the trio with other, excellent, sidemen, but the magic had vanished along with the young Scott.

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30/04/2026