Still More Bill Evans

Finally got through the last of the three Bill Evans CDs I got from J.'s father some time ago. Affinity, from 1978. It features Evans sharing the billing with Toots Thielemans, the world's only jazz harmonica player. It's not just the two of them, though -- Marc Johnson on bass, Eliot Zigmund on drums (both members of Evans's trio at various times) and Larry Schneider, whom I haven't heard of before, on tenor and soprano saxes.

By and large, I liked it. Evans plays well, and sounds like himself, but the real revelation is Thielemans. He is so unique that it's impossible for anyone who has even a passing interest in jazz to avoid hearing about him, but I have never actually heard his playing until now, and I have to say it's pretty incredible. Hard as it may be to believe, he really does make the harmonica sounds like a full-fledged jazz instrument -- full range, fluid solos and -- the most impressive for me -- really expressive. Paul Simon's I Do It for Your Love, in particular, while an odd choice of tune, pretty much caused me to stop doing whatever I was doing and listen. A duet with Evans, it is plaintive, lyrical and very cinematic; I had no idea a harmonica could sound like that. His tone, too, is a far cry from gut-bucket blues harmonica most of us are used to. At times, it sounds like an accordion, which, contrary to common wisdom, can sound good when used judiciously and played well.

Thielemans aside, the album is solid. A couple of tunes give away its era. Sno' Peas sounds like a sixties Blue Note soul-jazz number, but the theme is pretty infectious, and the band cooks on it. Tomato Kiss is probably the most dated -- Evans plays electric piano, and, combined with Johnson's loping, fusioney bass line, it screams "seventies." Schneider is my biggest complaint -- he sounds like a faceless Coltrane clone. No wonder I have never heard of him.

I actually spent most of the weekend listening to a couple of new classical CDs -- the latest disc of Schiff's Beethoven sonatas and some Bach keyboard stuff I got recently. I'll write about those later in the week.