Great sounding «Bill Evans in Norway» Is More Than a Time Capsule

Another Bill Evans live gem in Black Friday limited release.

If you’re a jazz head, the list of today’s Black Friday vinyl releases contains at least a couple of must-have titles. If you can get hold of them, that is. There is the Craft Recordings mono reissue of Deeds, Not Words, the fiery 1958 Max Roach session, limited to 2500 copies. And then there is the record up for a brief review here.

Bill Evans in Norway is a double album with a never before heard recording of an excellent concert  featuring the Evans trio with bassist Eddie Gómez and drummer Marty Morell. It was recorded Friday, June 26, 1970, at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival here in Norway. The record is released in cooperation with the festival, which brought the original tapes out from its extensive archive. It’s released by Elemental Music, in a limited first run of 8850 copies.

Elemental is a partnership between American producer Zev Feldman and Spanish producer Jordi Soley. Feldman has become quite the Bill Evans archivist, unearthing previously unreleased European live recordings and offering them as lavish RSD releases. Recent examples are the 2021 offering Behind The Dikes (The 1969 Netherlands Recordings), and last year’s excellent Treasures: Solo, Trio and Orchestra Recordings from Denmark (1965-1969), featuring a mix of live and radio recordings. Somewhat confusingly (and I can only guess for rights reasons) there are also very good Feldman productions of Evans concerts from Europe released by US label Resonance Records, like Some Other Time (The Lost Session From The Black Forest) (2016) and Another Time (The Hilversum Concert) (2017). These feature the same production qualities and design language as the later Elemental releases.

At the time of his 1970 concert at the idyllic Kongsberg festival, Evans was trying to kick his heroin habit, and was on a methadone program. This brought him new energy and a different outlook, a more upright posture, even the occasional smile, as music writer Marc Myers observes in an essay in the 16-page booklet accompanying the release. 

That newfound energy is very much present in the grooves here. Evans is on fire, often whipping up a surprisingly fast tempo, with a percussive vigour quite unlike the more ruminative mood and lighter touch on his earlier, legendary live dates, like Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby. Versions of «Autumn Leaves», «So What» and «Gloria's Step» are played way faster here than what I’m used to hearing. Perhaps even a bit too fast to really convey the deepest qualities of the material, but at the same time offering new and interesting perspective on the development of Evans' later approach to modal lyricism and harmonic subtlety. To be clear, far from everything here is as energetic – the contemplative side of Evans is also very much present.

The track list runs as follows:

SIDE A:

1. COME RAIN OR COME SHINE 5:58

2. WHAT ARE YOU DOING THE REST OF YOUR LIFE? 5:46

3. 34 SKIDOO 5:57

4. TURN OUT THE STARS 5:09

SIDE B:

1. AUTUMN LEAVES 5:55

2. QUIET NOW 5:34

3. SO WHAT 6:59

SIDE C:

1. GLORIA'S STEP 4:58

2. EMILY 5:18

3. MIDNIGHT MOOD 6:21

SIDE D:

1. WHO CAN I TURN TO? 6:38

2. SOME OTHER TIME 5:42

3. NARDIS 9:48

Not many surprises there to the initiated. This is a classic set from Evans’ second great trio in fine form, full of beautiful music. The interplay with Gómez and Morell is faultless, especially considering the fact that Evans almost never shared the setlist with his fellow musicians, neither before nor during concerts. They just had to join in, following Evans’ lead, as Morell explains in the Myers essay.

Gómez had played with Evans since 1966, Morell since ‘68. The two are given plenty of space here, so much so that I should perhaps warn potential buyers adverse to bass solos. Both the side one opener, «Come Rain or Come Shine», and the first side two track, «Autumn Leaves», feature extended Gómez solos. Gomez is a master, but he is perhaps given a tad too much solo time here, breaking up the lyrical flow of the music. Another example is the album’s closer, the iconic and beautiful Miles Davis composition «Nardis» (or is it actually a Bill Evans composition that Miles snatched credit for – some scholars I know can never agree). The version here has a spring in its step, but the trio barely has time to establish the compositional theme before another long Gómez solo taks over. Then, after some fine group interplay, Morell closes the proceedings with a fiery drum break. 

The concert was recorded and mixed live to tape. The well-produced booklet contains a fascinating article outlining how festival director Per Ottersen and the festival’s technical director, sound engineer Kristian Ludvik-Bøhmer, made the recording. They used Bøhmer’s custom-made mixer, a hand built portable eight channel stereo device featuring integrated circuits and no separate transformers. The recording was made through Shure 565 and 545 microphones to a Revox A77 machine running at 7 ½” speed.

The sound is generally excellent, if you don’t mind Evans being hard left, Gómez in the middle and Morell to the right. This was how they were positioned on stage. Bass and drums are particularly impressive sounding here  with rich dynamics and texture. Gomez' bass has real slam and weight. Evans’ Steinway is also well captured, with a pair of mikes spread out over the instrument.

Some post production and mixing was done for the release. after the tape was recorded to 24 bits/96kHz digital. According to my sources, a hum, some clicks and other noises were carefully removed, and some mild EQ and compression was applied. Still, what you hear is essentially what a lucky few hundred souls heard in Kongsberg cinema in June 1970.

The gatefold cover is thick cardboard with matte print. The booklet contains never-before seen photos of the trio from Kongsberg, and an Evans interview made at the time by Norwegian jazz journalist Randi Hultin. Hultin was a key figure on the scene, had many a visiting US jazz great over for late night jams at her house in Oslo, and formed deep friendships with many of them. Check out this Youtube clip (in Norwegian, with subtitles) of various visiting  legends, including repeat guest Sonny Rollins mowing Hultin’s lawn.

The booklet also contains excerpts of current interviews by Zac Feldman with Eddie Gomez, Marty Morell, Aaron Parks and Craig Taborn, and an article by Norwegian pianist Roy Hellvin, who was in the audience in Kongsberg 54 years ago.

The release is produced by Feldman, with Åge Hoffart as executive producer on behalf of the Kongsberg Jazz Festival. Post production is by Terje Hellem, mixing and sound restoration by Marc Doutrepoint, and mastering by Matthew Lutthans at the Mastering Lab. The records were pressed at GZ Media in The Czech Republic. The two records in my copy, number 7283 of 8850, were perfectly flat, and, apart from some minor crackling in a couple of places, mostly dead quiet. 

At my house, only Monk (and sometimes Keith Jarrett) compete with Bill Evans for the number one jazz pianist slot. This release is perhaps not an essential addition to the Evans catalogue, but it is far more than just historic documentation and an interesting time capsule. It’s great music, with great sound. If you’re a fan, you want this record.