Bill Evans - Bill Evans Trio '64 LP (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series, Audiophile, Gatefold)

There's scarcely a more towering figure in modern jazz — save Miles and Coltrane — than the great Bill Evans. His relaxed and emotional style at the piano would prove influential to not only his peers but to generations of pianists who would follow him. It also doesn't hurt, points out thejazzrecord.com, that he appeared on (and had great influence over the direction of) Kind Of Blue and that the two LPs from his trio's landmark stint at the Village Vanguard in 1961 (Waltz For Debby and Sunday At The Village Vanguard) are both stone-cold classics. The excellent Trio 64 marked Evans' first trio album after a move to Verve from his previous home at Riverside Records. While the work Evans' did with his first trio featuring Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian (particularly the Village Vanguard recordings) remains by far his most popular and lauded work, even after LaFaro's tragic death in 1961 he continued to improve upon and refine his particular brand of soulful and introspective playing. Trio