Search - Bill Evans :: Green Dolphin Street

Good News - Bad News

Paul Dana | San Francisco, CA USA | 01/07/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There's both good news and bad news with this Japanese-remastered release of 1959's "On Green Dolphin Street."The good news is that, with the title of this CD, they've managed to get the title right, for once. (The actual title of the song is, and always has been, "Green Dolphin Street." The "On" part seems to have been added -- and to have stuck ever since -- at about the time the Miles Davis Sextet recorded it.)Additionally, the new xrcd 20-bit mastering is a definite enhancement to overall sound quality: Evans and Chambers and Jones have never sounded better together. If you're a deep-dyed audiophile, the extra money's worth spending.Bad news: The inclusion of "Loose Bloose" performed by Evans, Zoot Sims, Jim Hall, Ron Carter and Philly Joe Jones. It's jarring for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that it doesn't jibe either with the trio setting or the upbeat feeling of the other cuts. Whereas the other six cuts on this CD were recorded in early 1959, the final cut was recorded in August 1962; this is significant in that Evans had spent the previous year as a virtual recluse, profoundly affected by the death of bassist Scott LeFaro (to the extent that he'd seriously considered giving up music altogether). At the recording of this final cut, Evans' contribution is far more understated and brooding. Both his head and his playing are in a far different space. The ill-advised inclusion of this number closes the CD on a "downer," thematically and musically.And that's bad news."