专辑英文名: Portrait In Jazz
专辑中文名: 爵士肖像
歌手: Bill Evans Trio
音乐风格: 爵士
资源格式: FLAC
发行时间: 1959年
地区: 美国
语言: 英语
简介:
出品厂牌：Concord / Riverside
唱片编号：0888072306783
音乐风格：Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Cool
推荐指数：★★★★★
专辑介绍：
Bill Evans生於1929年8月16日诞生於美国新纽泽西州，从小就受正统的古典音乐教育，在参加Miles Davis的六重奏之后，所参与录制Kind of Blue专辑中担任钢琴部分，Kind of Blue声名大噪后，他被公认为爵士乐六七十年代伟大的钢琴家之一。他的钢琴，常带给人浪漫、敏感、和一点神经质的感觉，几乎可以到一听就知道是他弹的明显程度。我觉得他和一般爵士钢琴家最大的不同是，他所弹奏的每一个音符，都非常的明确、清晰，尤其在极为繁复的即兴乐段中，仍然可以保持戏剧般的张力。
村上春树在他的「爵士群像」这本书中有一段文字我觉得描写的很棒：『在这些（Bill Evans的）唱片之中，Evans的演奏好的没话说，人类的自我（而且可能还是抱著许多问题的自我），透过所谓才华这过滤装置，变为稀有的美丽宝石纷纷掉落地面的样子。』
而Bill Evans最为人所熟知的，就是他的爵士钢琴三重奏（Piano Trio）。一般的爵士钢琴三重奏是由钢琴、低音大提琴和爵士鼓所组成。在他之前的三重奏，大部分都是以钢琴为主轴，低音大提琴和爵士鼓通常担任的是配角。Bill Evans的三重奏，和以前最大的不同在於，他将每一种乐器的比重都给予平均，常常在他唱片里乐曲的即兴片段中，你可以感觉到每一个乐器，似乎都有一种彼此在对话的感觉。
Bill Evans在爵士乐历史上最著名的时期，是在1956到1963年间在Riverside唱片公司里，与低音大提琴手Scott LaFaro和鼓手Paul Motian合作的时期。他们共灌录了四张专辑，「Portrait in Jazz」、「Explorations」、「Sunday at the Village Vanguard」、「Waltz for Debby」，为世人所熟知，几乎是每个爵士乐迷所必备的名盘。
河岸边上的Bill Evans
在国内颇具人气的优异钢琴家比尔．伊文斯（Bill Evans）从五零年代开始演奏到八零年去逝，他的弹奏影响了无数日后的钢琴名家，奇克．柯利亚（Chick Corea），贺比．汉克克（Herbie Hancock），凯斯．杰瑞特（Keith Jarrett）甚至前几年才离世的侏儒大师米谢尔．派卓西安尼（Michel Patrucciani）都有一段明显受他影响的岁月。要瞭解比尔．伊文斯，想要一探他的巨大影响力，我认为从头来是最实在的，聆听他早期与迈尔．戴维士（Miles Davis）的合作以及他自己掛头牌在河岸唱片（Riverside）留下的录音，是掌握这位钢琴巨人的最佳途径。
比尔．伊文斯出生於一九二九年，原名William John Evans，在学校的时候，也有人称他William "Fingers" Evnas。五零年代晚期，比尔．伊文斯开始在乐坛崭露头角，出道不久，便与迈尔．戴维士（Miles Davis）同赴新港音乐祭，六九年合作了《Kind of Blue》，更使他很快就打响了名号。在此辑中，他参与了录音及制作，也担当主要的钢琴手，〈Blue in Green〉，〈Flamenco Sketches〉两曲是他的作品，这张专辑的编曲也由他担任，甚至内页的介绍也是由他执笔。我们可以说因为戴维士的大胆而开啟了调式音乐在爵士乐的实践，但在首场实验性的录音中，却是由比尔．伊文斯担当主要的旗手。
除了与戴维士的合作之外，一九五六年到一九六三年间，比尔伊文斯在河岸唱片留下了十多张的唱片，也是重要的史料，记录著伊文斯的摸索，实验以及成熟。
一九五六年，伊文斯加入河岸唱片，录制了他的第一张商业发行：《爵士新概念（New Jazz Conceptions）》，在这张专辑中，伊文斯虽然是首度嚐试商业发行，却毫不退缩地展现他想要带给世人的爵士新概念。他将德布西与拉斐尔的演奏风格带入爵士乐的领域，展现了印象派的朦朧与神秘，却又不失爵士乐的摇摆感受以及即兴精神，相当神奇地将两者合而为一，并且悦耳动听。
一九五八年，伊文斯再次宁静革命，他录制了一首钢琴独奏〈Peace Piece〉，在这首曲子里，长达七分鐘他以两个反复的和弦为基础不停地即兴演变，明显地展露他的企图。他嚐试将George Russell提出的调式理论（modal theory）带到爵士乐的领域里来。同年，他与贝斯手山姆．琼斯（Sam Jones）以及鼓手菲利．乔．琼斯（Philly Joe Jones）合作，出版了三重奏作品《人人都懂比尔伊文斯（Everybody Digs Bill Evnas）》，除了收录前面提到的实验性作品〈Peace Piece〉外，还找来了已经成名的乐手例如迈尔．戴维士以及加农砲艾德利等人为他签名背书。此辑同时是他在隔年参与《Kind of Blue》录音的重要关键。戴维士说伊文斯是宁静火焰，我想指的正是这种让人不知不觉地接受了一种新的概念，而且一烧就是一整片山林的特长。
五九年到六一年间，比尔伊文斯在河岸的岁月达到高峰，他和贝斯手史考特．拉．法罗（Scott La Faro） 及和鼓手保罗．摩逊（Paul Motian）合作，留下了许多精彩的录音。包括了精彩三人同时即兴的《爵士探索（Explorations）》，《爵士肖像（Portrait in Jazz）》等，其中最著名的该属《Sunday at the Village Vanguard》以及《给黛比的华尔滋（Waltz for Debby）》 两张。这两张是同一场录音，是六一年六月二十五日在前卫村（Village anguard）酒吧所留下的，比尔等三人应该是有受到酒精或是药物的影响，这场演出带有迷幻气息，比尔的钢琴不急不徐地弹送情歌；鼓手保罗的演奏以钢刷为主，让节奏精巧地轻灵摆动；贝斯手史考特明显的弦声不干於背景舖陈，无论是独奏的片段，或是在比尔略放空档的音符间隙里与钢琴交叉对话，一个节奏组三重奏，这样的阵容是优异到有点不可思议的地步。
在《给黛比的华尔滋（Waltz for Debby）》里的曲目包括了数首情歌例如〈My Foolish Heart〉，〈Waltz for Debby〉以及〈My Romance〉，都是比尔伊文在他的演奏生涯里常演奏的曲子，而本张专辑里的版本，可以算是当时最成熟的版本，与日后的许多詮释相较，也都算是相当好的版本，例如标题曲〈Waltz for Debby〉曾在五六年的《爵士新概念（New Jazz Conceptions）》专辑中有概念性地演出过，而在这张专辑中的现场版本，则比之前的录音室作品成熟许多，结构已达完美，日后许多版本都不及这个版本的完美。
这次的演出十天后，贝斯手史考特车祸丧生，除了乐坛失去一个重要的贝斯手，对团长比尔．伊文来说，更是痛失右手，不只使这个优异的三重奏终结，也使比尔．伊文暂停一切的演出一年，对酒精与海洛因的需求也日益加重。
六二年重新开始录音，和新任的低音大提琴手恰克．以塞列（Chuck Israels）合作，留下了《月光（Moonbeams）》和《心灵之歌（How My Heart Sings!）》两张专辑。在这两张专辑中的伊文斯和新任的低音大提手合作出另一种风味，较之史考特．拉．法罗的骚动，以塞列的拨弦较为轻巧，伊文斯则大抵保持了印象派的优美音色，多首3/4拍的华尔滋都很悦耳，但是改格的风味较相对的淡去。
六二年七月，他更嚐试找来小号手佛瑞狄．哈伯（Freddie Hubbard），吉他手吉姆．霍尔（Jim Hall），MJQ的低音大提琴手波西．希斯（Percy Heath）以及鼓手菲利．乔．琼斯（Philly Joe Jones）灌录了一张难得的五重奏作品《相互共呜（Interplay）》，在这张辑中，值得将耳朵专注在鼓手菲利．乔．琼斯和小号手佛瑞狄．哈伯两个人身上，菲利．乔．琼斯的击鼓一直是以活泼热烈著称，与印象派的伊文斯似是不同掛的，但是他在此辑中则表现了难得的内敛与沈稳，足见乐团伙伴交互影响的威力。倒是小号手佛瑞狄哈伯当时正值年轻，经验不足，加上他的乐器是全团中最嘹亮的铜管，使得他在录音的第一天根本无法与其他四个人配合上，根据记载，到录音的第二天，哈伯才完全进入状况，掌握与其他人配合的诀窍。
到了一九六三年，也就是伊文斯与河岸唱片合作的最后一年，他已经开始为新东家Verve唱片灌录著名的独奏混音作品《与自己对话（Conversations With Myself）》，嚐试利用新的录音技术，自己与自己搭配即兴演出。为河岸唱片留下的最后一张唱片是一张现场唱片《Bill Evans Trio at Shelly's Manne-Hole》，这是除了著名的前卫村两张录音外，第二场为河岸留下的现场录音，其中合作的低音大提手以塞列是拉法罗之后的接班人，而鼓手赖瑞．邦克（Larry Bunker）则是只有合作过这么一次，在演奏内容上特出之处并没有很多，但是由於是为他出道的公司录制的最后一张唱片，所以颇具时代意义。
除了这些原本掛牌河岸唱片发行的唱盘（LP）转发成CD格式之外，还有三张掛在Milestone牌下发行的录音，其录音内容也是河岸时期的录音，只是当时没有发行。它们是1963录制的两张独奏专辑《The Solo Sessions, Vol. 1》和《The Solo Sessions, Vol. 2》以及现场录音《Time Remembered》。
其中的两张独奏作品是录制於他为Verve录下《与自己对话（Conversations With Myself）》之前留下的，可谓是最早的大量独奏录音，这个时期由於还没忘情拉法罗，加上酒精与海洛因的用量都很大很大，伊文斯的表现并不好，大部分的录音都拢罩在很严重的低气压之下，让人有点气闷，甚至有很多曲子和曲子之间，因为嗝过头了，忘了要停下来，而只得录成多首曲子串连的Medley。这两张独奏作品当时并没有发行，第一次发行是在出版伊文斯河岸全集套装的时候，放入其中。到一九八九年才首度以单张CD的型式发行。另外一张《Time Remembered》则是将伊文斯最后一场现场录音《Bill Evans Trio at Shelly's Manne-Hole》的未收录曲加以收录，重新发行。
这一次，风云唱片挺有决心地将代理的OJC的唱片较大规模的重发，虽然由於是德国版，许多玩家对於封面印刷的品质并不满意，但至少已经让原本很多难得发现的唱片有较容易被买到的机会。其中，当然包括市场考量，所以在国内挺具人气的伊文斯，接近是全数都重新出现在市面上，再加上一张伊文斯在河岸时期的选辑，这无疑是一个重新收齐伊文斯的河岸岁月最好的机会。
比尔伊文斯在河岸时期的发行列表：
1956 New Jazz Conceptions
1958 Everybody Digs Bill Evans
1959 On Green Dolphin Street
1959 Portrait in Jazz
1961 Explorations
1961 Sunday at the Village Vanguard [live]
1961 Waltz for Debby
1962 How My Heart Sings!
1962 Moonbeams
1962 Interplay
1963 The Solo Sessions, Vol. 1
1963 The Solo Sessions, Vol. 2
1963 Bill Evans Trio at Shelly's Manne-Hole
1963 Time Remembered
Bill Evans Biography
引用
Birthname: William John Evans
Nationality: America
Born: Aug 16 1929
Died: Sep 15 1980 (51 years old)
US born jazz pianist Bill Evans' impressionist style became the blueprint for jazz musicians to follow, and his work has been cited as an influence on Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea and many more.
Evans was taught classical piano by his mother, also picking up the violin and flute. He went on to study music at University, going to New York in the 50s, where he played the club circuit. His reputation spread and he eventually recorded on the albums of a number of established artists including Charles Mingus. Keen to do his own thing he released his debut in 1956, which featured his best known track "Waltz For Debby". He spent time with The Miles Davis Sextet during which, the pair worked on some ideas - the result, Kind of Blue, has become the best selling acoustic jazz album and features, some suggest, Evan's best performance.
He set up the Bill Evans Trio, along with Scott Lafaro and Paul Motian. They released the highly praised Everybody Digs Bill Evans, however Lafaro was killed in an accident in 1961, an event which affected Evans deeply, and it was many months before he worked again. Despite further Trio work, with other members, Evans has described the original incarnation as the best. Evans tried working in other formats, including the use of recording techniques to allow him to play different parts of piece simultaneously, which can be heard on the acclaimed Conversations with Myself series, he also recorded with other artists such as saxophonist Stan Getz.
Evan's health gave way in 1980, aggravated by a long term drug addiction. He left behind an extensive back catalogue of highly praised work, including The Bill Evans Album which won two Grammys. The Grammy committee honoured him again with a posthumously awarded Lifetime Achievement Award.
Intro:
引用
One of the two most important associations in the early development of the incredible talent of Bill Evans was undoubtedly his nine-month 1958 stay with the Miles Davis Sextet that also included John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley. The other was the year-and-a-half span in which Scott LaFaro was the bassist in Bill's newly-formed trio and they developed their remarkable creative rapport, working towards what Evans termed "simultaneous improvisation." Portrait in Jazz was the first of four albums by the Evans/LaFaro/Motian team; in it can clearly be heard the exciting sound of new ideas being born.
Orrin Keepnews' commentary (from his new liner notes): “This turned out to be the easiest Bill Evans record session I was ever involved in. The trio's initial working repertoire consisted entirely of material that he wanted to record but had not yet attempted; I probably would have preferred having more than two originals, having not yet fully realized that his ability to reconstruct and revitalize old and often over-familiar standards was one of his more important contributions to the jazz vocabulary.”
Reviews:
引用
Amazon.com:
Lyric and thoughtful, pianist Bill Evans proved an urbane bridge between the early bop style of Bud Powell and playful funk of Horace Silver, and the later, modern approach of pianists like Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Keith Jarrett (indeed, Jarrett went as far as to record with Evans's backup band of drummer Paul Motian and bassist Gary Peacock). Evans's second album as a leader, Portrait in Jazz combines a pair of originals--"Blue in Green" and "Peri's Scope"--with a handful of show tunes and standards, including a version of "Someday My Prince Will Come" that pre-dates Miles Davis's adaptation. With a preference for irregular phrasing and a taste for unusual chord spellings, Evans was frequently able to recast old chestnuts and tired warhorses into new gems and spirited charges, as he does here with "Witchcraft," "Spring Is Here," and "When I Fall in Love." And although he recorded in many different formats throughout his career, including duets with himself, the power and beauty of Evans's trios helped him lay a special claim to that grouping. --Fred Goodman
Reviewer:
Portrait in Jazz was the first of only four (official) albums made by what Evans fans know as "the first trio" - the one with Scott La Faro and Paul Motian - which introduced a new approach to the music of a jazz piano trio. Whereas the conventional trio tended to feature the pianist as a 'star soloist' with bass and percussion essentially as 'accompanists' with a fixed and limited role, Evans, La Faro and drummer Paul Motian aimed to develop more of a sense of equal and spontaneous interplay. Scott La Faro was the right man in the right place: his virtuoso technique and strong musical personality enabled him to play the more active, assertive (but compatible) role Evans wanted for the group. By the time this trio played its famous sessions at The Village Vanguard (Live at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby) this 'collective improvisation' was well developed. Portrait in Jazz being the first album by the trio, the roles within the group are sometimes still fairly conventional, with bass and drums functioning as a `rhythm section' with the pianist spotlighted as `leader'. However, there's a strong sense of discovery and enthusiasm which, I think, gives the music a greater freshness and vitality than the subsequent albums by this trio and it's those qualities, along with the sensitive, alert musicianship of the trio which makes this one of the most absorbing and enjoyable of Evans's many albums.
Part of its appeal is also the excellent choice of material, but much of the interest lies in what Evans in particular does with it. Often this is mainly a matter of the unusual chord voicings and adjustments of rhythm and phrasing he gives to a familiar tune, which open up wider harmonic and rhythmic perspectives for improvising. You hear this from the opening bars of the first number, "Come Rain or Come Shine" and it's evident also in the slower ballads, a haunting version of "Spring is Here" and a probing reading of "When I fall in Love". Notice for example how, on the latter very familiar tune, Evans's slightly 'off-centre' harmonies create a different kind of emotional tone from the suave, sentimental one which singers usually give it. Among the other high spots are the famous up-tempo version of "Autumn Leaves", with its infectious swing and lively interplay between piano and bass, similarly propulsive readings of "What is this Thing Called Love" and "Some Day My Prince Will Come" and a marvellous "Blue in Green" on which the rapport between Evans and his partners is especially close.
This is a classic piano jazz album, and one that never seems to lose its freshness. Highly recommended.
Cduniverse.com:
PORTRAIT IN JAZZ introduced the justly acclaimed Bill Evans Trio, the innovative little group featuring bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian that would forever change standards of jazz playing, introducing a new kind of swing based on a flexible sense of time and interplay. Evans had already established himself on EVERYBODY DIGS BILL EVANS and, of course, the Miles landmark KIND OF BLUE. Now it was time to share the wealth.
PORTRAIT IN JAZZ represents the beginning of this process, which wouldn't see full flower till the freewheeling Village Vanguard sessions more than a year later. In the meantime there are energetically abstract takes on "Come Rain Or Come Shine" and "What Is This Thing Called Love?" as well as two equally fine takes of "Autumn Leaves"--one is a CD bonus track--on which Evans swings his heart out. The disc closes with two takes of the delicately somber "Blue In Green," a collaboration with Miles also featured on KIND OF BLUE and a welcome reminder of Evan's considerable skills as a composer.
Solidez y espontaneidad... Considerado el pianista mas influyente de los ultimos 50 años, este album refleja fielmente el trabajo y la interaccion de un trio que modifico para siempre la historia del jazz moderno.
~Submitted by juanjosespinelli (Buenos Aires, Capital Federal, Argentina)
Personnel:
Bill Evans (piano)
Scott LaFaro (bass)
Paul Motian (drums)
Recorded at Reeves Sound Studios, New York, New York on December 28, 1959. Originally released on Riverside (1162).
