New Jazz Conceptions

1957 studio album by Bill Evans

New Jazz Conceptions

Studio album by

Bill Evans

Released| End of February 1957[1]
Recorded| September 18 and 27, 1956
Studio| Reeves Sound Studios, New York City
Genre| Jazz
Length| 41:18 (original LP)
49:56 (CD reissue)
Label| Riverside
RLP 12-223
Producer| Orrin Keepnews
Bill Evans chronology
|  | New Jazz Conceptions
(1956)  | Everybody Digs Bill Evans
(1958)

|
|

Alternative cover

LP cover

New Jazz Conceptions is the debut album by jazz pianist Bill Evans, recorded in two sessions during September 1956 for Riverside Records.

## Background

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Evans was playing a gig with his old friend, the guitarist Mundell Lowe, who had been recording for the newly emerging independent jazz label Riverside. Lowe played a demo tape featuring Evans over the phone to Riverside producer Orrin Keepnews and his partner, Bill Grauer, who were sufficiently impressed that they resolved to catch Evans playing live. After hearing him at the Village Vanguard several times, they offered him a recording contract at scale wages. Keepnews had some trouble persuading Evans to record—an ironic situation, as "usually, of course, it is the artist trying to persuade the producer."[2]

The album was recorded in two sessions on September 18 and 27, 1956.[3] Evans played three extremely brief solos: Duke Ellington's "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good," Richard Rodgers's "My Romance," which would remain an integral part of Evans's repertoire and be recorded by him many times in trio settings, and the original version of his own most widely recognized and recorded composition, "Waltz for Debby."[4]

On the album, these solos were interspersed among eight trio recordings featuring bassist Teddy Kotick and drummer Paul Motian, both of whom Evans had been playing with in Tony Scott's quartet.[5] Motian would go on to become a member of Evans's classic 1959–1961 trio with Scott LaFaro. The trio recordings included three more originals by Evans: "Five," "Displacement," and "No Cover, No Minimum," the first of which would become a regular part of his repertoire for the rest of his career.[6] Like many jazz tunes, "Five" is based on the chord changes of Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm" and, unusually for Evans, it has an angularity reminiscent of the compositions of Thelonious Monk;[7] pianist Warren Bernhardt, a close friend of Evans, noted that it's extremely difficult to play.[8]

New Jazz Conceptions was Evans's sixth recording project overall, and he wouldn't allow himself to be coaxed back into the studio as a leader for another 27 months, for the seminal follow-up Everybody Digs Bill Evans. In the meantime, he continued to develop his personal style as a sideman, recording with such important contemporaries as George Russell, Charles Mingus, Helen Merrill, Miles Davis, Michel Legrand, Cannonball Adderley, and Art Farmer.[9]

## Reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
All About Jazz| (no rating) [10]
AllMusic|  [11]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide| [12]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings| [13]

Although a critical success that gained positive reviews in DownBeat and Metronome magazines, New Jazz Conceptions was initially a financial failure, selling only 800 copies the first year.[4]

Writing for AllMusic, music critic Scott Yanow said about the album: "Bill Evans' debut as a leader found the 27-year-old pianist already sounding much different than the usual Bud Powell-influenced keyboardists of the time. ... A strong start to a rather significant career."[11] Conversely, David Rickert of All About Jazz noted the apparent influence of Powell and wrote, "Even at this stage he had the chops to make this a good piano jazz album, but in the end it's not a very good Bill Evans album. ... There are glimpses of the later trademarks of Evans' style."[10]

Evans biographer Keith Shadwick comments that the album "conclusively demonstrated Evans to be a highly competent and sophisticated modern jazz pianist with a definite compositional gift, but also showed him to be considerably short of a unified musical personality. It would be no coincidence that he would not make another album as a leader for close on two-and-a-half years."[14]

## Reissues

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New Jazz Conceptions was digitally remastered and released on CD by Riverside/Original Jazz Classics in 1987 with an alternative version of "No Cover, No Minimum" as a bonus track. Riverside reissued it with 20-bit K2 super coding in 2004.

## Track listing

[edit]

1. "I Love You" (Cole Porter) – 3:55
2. "Five" (Bill Evans) – 4:03
3. "I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)" (Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster) – 1:39
4. "Conception" (George Shearing) – 4:47
5. "Easy Living" (Leo Robin, Ralph Rainger) – 3:53
6. "Displacement" (Evans) – 2:36
7. "Speak Low" (Kurt Weill, Ogden Nash) – 5:10
8. "Waltz for Debby" (Evans, Gene Lees) – 1:20
9. "Our Delight" (Tadd Dameron) – 4:47
10. "My Romance" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 2:01
11. "No Cover, No Minimum" [Take 1] (Evans) – 8:14 Not part of original LP
12. "No Cover, No Minimum" – 7:31

## Personnel

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* Bill Evans \- Piano
* Teddy Kotick \- Bass (except 3, 8, & 10)
* Paul Motian \- Drums (except 3, 8, & 10)

### Production

[edit]

* Orrin Keepnews \- Producer
* Bill Grauer - Producer
* Jack Higgins - Engineer
* Tamaki Beck - Mastering

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Review Spotlight on...", Billboard, March 2, 1957, p. 30.
2. ^ Pettinger, Peter, Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings, Yale University Press (1998), pp. 35-36.
3. ^ "Bill Evans Discography," https://www.jazzdisco.org/bill-evans/discography/, JAZZDISCO.org, Accessed 16 June 2024.
4. ^ a b Joel Simpson, "Bill Evans: 1929-1980", All About Jazz, August 27, 2004.
5. ^ Pettinger, p. 36.
6. ^ "Bill Evans Discography."
7. ^ Shadwick, Keith, Bill Evans: Everything Happens to Me, Backbeat Books (2002), p. 58.
8. ^ Pettinger, p. 37.
9. ^ Pettinger, pp. 297-303.
10. ^ a b Rickert, David. "New Jazz Conceptions > Review". All About Jazz. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
11. ^ a b Yanow, Scott. "New Jazz Conceptions > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
12. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 73. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
13. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 455\. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
14. ^ Shadwick, p. 59.

* v
* t
* e

Bill Evans

Discography

Studio
albums|

* New Jazz Conceptions
* Tenderly: An Informal Session
* Everybody Digs Bill Evans
* On Green Dolphin Street
* The Ivory Hunters
* Portrait in Jazz
* Know What I Mean?
* Explorations
* Nirvana
* Undercurrent
* Moon Beams
* How My Heart Sings!
* Interplay
* Empathy
* Loose Blues
* The Solo Sessions, Vol. 1
* The Solo Sessions, Vol. 2
* The Gary McFarland Orchestra
* Conversations With Myself
* Plays the Theme from The V.I.P.s and Other Great Songs
* Trio 64
* Stan Getz & Bill Evans
* Waltz for Debby
* Trio '65
* Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra
* Intermodulation
* A Simple Matter of Conviction
* Further Conversations with Myself
* Alone
* What's New
* From Left to Right
* Quiet Now
* The Bill Evans Album
* Living Time
* Eloquence
* Symbiosis
* Intuition
* The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album
* Alone (Again)
* Quintessence
* Together Again
* Crosscurrents
* I Will Say Goodbye
* You Must Believe in Spring
* New Conversations
* Affinity
* We Will Meet Again

Live
albums|

* Sunday at the Village Vanguard
* Waltz for Debby
* Time Remembered
* At Shelly's Manne-Hole
* Bill Evans at Town Hall
* The Bill Evans Trio "Live"
* California Here I Come
* Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival
* Jazzhouse
* You're Gonna Hear from Me
* Montreux II
* The Tokyo Concert
* Half Moon Bay
* Since We Met
* Re: Person I Knew
* But Beautiful
* Blue in Green: The Concert in Canada
* Montreux III
* Getting Sentimental
* Live in Buenos Aires 1979
* Homecoming
* The Paris Concert: Edition One
* The Paris Concert: Edition Two
* Turn Out the Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings
* Letter to Evan
* Turn Out the Stars
* The Last Waltz: The Final Recordings
* Consecration: The Final Recordings Part 2

Compilation
albums|

* Piano Player

Compositions|

* "Waltz for Debby"
* "Funkallero"
* "Blue in Green"
* "Flamenco Sketches"
* "Time Remembered"
* "Peace Piece"

Band
members|

* Monty Budwig
* Larry Bunker
* Jack DeJohnette
* Eddie Gómez
* Chuck Israels
* Marc Johnson
* Philly Joe Jones
* Sam Jones
* Teddy Kotick
* Joe LaBarbera
* Scott LaFaro
* Michael Moore
* Marty Morell
* Paul Motian
* Gary Peacock

Associated
musicians|

* Cannonball Adderley
* Chet Baker
* Tony Bennett
* Bob Brookmeyer
* Kenny Burrell
* Ron Carter
* Miles Davis
* Stan Getz
* Jim Hall
* Freddie Hubbard
* Lee Konitz
* Harold Land
* Shelly Manne
* Warne Marsh
* Claus Ogerman
* George Russell
* Zoot Sims
* Toots Thielemans
* Monica Zetterlund

Related
articles|

* Tribute albums

* v
* t
* e

Paul Motian

Albums|

* Conception Vessel (1972)
* Tribute (1974)
* Dance (1977)
* Le Voyage (1979)
* Psalm (1981)
* The Story of Maryam (1983)
* It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago (1984)
* Jack of Clubs (1984)
* Misterioso (1986)
* One Time Out (1987)
* Monk in Motian (1988)
* On Broadway Volume 1 (1988)
* On Broadway Volume 2 (1989)
* Bill Evans (1990)
* Motian in Tokyo (1991)
* On Broadway Volume 3 (1991)
* Paul Motian and the Electric Bebop Band (1992)
* Trioism (1993)
* Reincarnation of a Love Bird (1994)
* At the Village Vanguard (1995)
* Sound of Love (1995)
* Flight of the Blue Jay (1996)
* Trio 2000 + One (1997)
* Play Monk and Powell (1998)
* Europe (2000)
* Holiday for Strings (2001)
* Garden of Eden (2004)
* I Have the Room Above Her (2004)
* On Broadway Vol. 4 or The Paradox of Continuity (2005)
* Live at the Village Vanguard (2006)
* Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. II (2006)
* Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. III (2006)
* Time and Time Again (2006)
* On Broadway Volume 5 (2008)
* Lost in a Dream (2009)
* The Windmills of Your Mind (2010)

Tethered
Moon|

(Masabumi Kikuchi, Paul Motian and Gary Peacock)

* First Meeting (1990–91)
* Tethered Moon Play Kurt Weill (1994)
* Chansons d'Édith Piaf (1999)
* Experiencing Tosca (2002)

Trio|

(Geri Allen, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian)

* Etudes (1987)
* In the Year of the Dragon (1989)
* Segments (1989)
* The Montreal Tapes: with Geri Allen and Paul Motian (Haden, 1989)
* Live at the Village Vanguard (1990)

Discography

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

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