Chick Corea, Eddie Gomez, Paul Motian: Further Explorations

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This double-album tribute to the music of Bill Evans isn’t a place to find “strict re-creations” of the jazz pianist’s classic tunes, said Frank Alkyer in DownBeat. What you’ll find instead are Evans compositions “lovingly embraced and made new” by three top musicians. Bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Paul Motian played in trios with Evans before his death, in 1980, while pianist Chick Corea has long been an Evans admirer. The three friends recorded this collection during a run of 2010 shows, and its 19 tracks have “the warm, laid-back feel” you’d expect. “Gomez’s strong bass lines are anchors” throughout, given Motian’s improvisational style, said Steve Greenlee in The Boston Globe. Corea, meanwhile, avoids trying to imitate Evans’s light, impressionist touch. Instead he “regales the listener with dramatic flourishes, sharp turns, and dazzling runs.” The trio not only finds “new delights in familiar numbers” but has even unearthed an unrecorded Evans composition—“Song No. 1.”

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