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Bill Evans

Title: The Last European Concert, Bad Honningen 1980

Label: Gambit

Cat No:69243
Format:CD

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Discovery Records
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Released for the first time in its entirety, this final Bill Evans European concert was recorded in Germany at Bad Honningen on August 15th 1980, with his then regular trio of bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera. He had only just completed two weeks at Ronnie Scott’s on August 2nd (now also released on Gambit as a 2CD set 69242) and from this date in Germany was to return to the States and play from August 31st to September 8th at Keystone Korner, San Francisco. Followed by only 2 nights of a week-long engagement at Fat Tuesday’s, New York, before his death on September 15th.

But despite his increasingly failing health, Evans was somehow able, once on stage and playing, to transcend physical restrictions and draw from his deep well of inspiration and technique. Evans never apparently recovered from the personal loss of his brother Harry, the year before, and felt that he did not have much time left himself, but this drove him to make every performance as special as possible. These 13 tracks, 8 Evans’ compositions & 5 standards, are ample proof of that.

Track Listing for The Last European Concert, Bad Honningen 1980
1. Letter to Evan
2. Yet Ne’er Broken
3. Laurie
4. Bill’s Hit Tune
5. Knit For Mary F.
6. The Days of Wine and Roses
7. Your Story
8. But Beautiful
9. If you Could See Me Now
10. Waltz For Debby
11. Who Can I Turn To
12. Theme From M.A.S.H.
13. Five

Reviews

Jazz Journal - Michael Tucker

Evans' playing continued to manifest the group-attuned melodic grace and dynamic and harmonic subtlety for which it had long been distinguished. To my ears, all of this maturely conceived and wide-ranging programme holds the attention fully.

The Jazz Rag - Julian Maynard-Smith

Evans plays with urgency if not impatience, even on ballads. There is a sense of liberation to Evan's performance, this concert is a worthwhile testimony to the final stages of Evan's brilliant career.

Jazzwise - Keith Shadwick

Considerably improved sound. If you're an Evans freak who wants every last note, then you hardly need me to tell you what to do. **

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