Bill Evans - Conversations With Myself

Back to Black label's first jazz reissue series

Ten legendary Verve titles

Mastered at Abbey Road Studios, 180-gram vinyl

This is an album that courted controversy with the technique of overdubbing Bill Evans on three separate takes. Some thought this sacrilege and an impure art as it was impossible to recreate in concert. It is with the passing of time acknowledged as a masterpiece by a genius. Both David Foster and Tommy LiPuma cite this album as an inspiration; many others agree and 1964 it won the Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group.

Evans played Glen Gould's piano on the recording that was created from a "conversation" between the first two takes with subtle embellishments added on the third take. As it says on the liner notes of the album regarding ‘Bill three': ‘He was their Greek chorus, and sometimes he had the best lines.' The cover photography is by the celebrated photographer, Roy DeCarava.