Bill Evans - You Must Believe In Spring

Hybrid Stereo SACD

Mastered direct to DSD from the original stereo tape by Grammy-winning engineer Paul Blakemore

Bill Evans' final recording session with bassist Eddie Gómez and drummer Eliot Zigmund

Newly mastered edition of pioneering jazz pianist Bill Evans' 70th studio album, You Must Believe In Spring, his final recording session with bassist Eddie Gómez and drummer Eliot Zigmund.

Recorded in 1977 and released in 1981, just months after Evans' death, the album marks the artist's final studio recording and includes stunning performances of "We Will Meet Again (for Harry)" and "B Minor Waltz (for Ellaine)."

The audio for this SACD version was transferred from the original tapes using the Plangent Processes Playback System and has been newly remastered by Grammy-award winning engineer Paul Blakemore.

The SACD includes three bonus tracks from the sessions, including the trio's renditions of the Cole Porter classic "All of You" and the Vincent Youmans standard "Without a Song." The jovial "Freddie Freeloader," meanwhile, finds Evans revisiting his early years as a member of Miles Davis' band. Interestingly, the selection not only features a rare performance by Evans on the electric piano, but also marks the only track on Davis' Kind of Blue that the pianist did not appear on. Originally issued in 2003, all three bonus tracks will now make their debut in hi-res audio.

One of the most influential artists in the history of jazz, Bill Evans (1929-1980) was known for his conversational interplay within his trios, his lyrical compositions and his matchless approach to the piano. His work with Gomez and Zigmund on You Must Believe in Spring offers a brilliant example of all three. At the time that they recorded the album, in August 1977, this particular iteration of the Bill Evans Trio had reached their apex, after three busy years of live performances and studio outings (including 1977's Crosscurrents and I Will Say Goodbye).

Recorded over three days at Hollywood's famed Capitol Studios, the album paired Evans with the legendary producer Tommy LiPuma, whose extensive credits included Barbra Streisand, George Benson and Natalie Cole, among many others. Together, they selected an introspective collection of material which, notes Marc Myers, gave the album "a gentle, melancholy feel and a music-box tenderness." Among them were two deeply personal Evans originals: "B Minor Waltz (for Ellaine)," composed in the memory of the pianist's late common-law wife, Ellaine Shultz, and "We Will Meet Again (for Harry)," written for the artist's late brother. Two years later, Evans would revisit the latter composition, designating it as the title track of his final studio recording.

In a 2016 interview with Myers, LiPuma reflected proudly on You Must Believe in Spring. "By pure chance, I caught that trio at the right time. They were locked in and it was perfection,"recalled the late producer, who helmed the album alongside Evans' longtime manager, Helen Keane. "It all gets down to the quality of the story being told by the musicians. If the music is infectious enough, it grabs you and you can't get it out of your head. This album had all of that, at the highest possible level."

1. B Minor Waltz (For Ellaine)

2. You Must Believe In Spring

3. Gary’s Theme

4. We Will Meet Again (For Harry)

5. The Peacocks

6. Sometime Ago

7. Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)

8. Without A Song (Bonus)

9. Freddie Freeloader (Bonus)

10. All Of You (Bonus)

Be the first to write a review for this item OR just rate it