How My Heart Sings: Craft Recordings Readies New Career-Spanning Box for Bill Evans

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Bill Evans would have earned his place in the jazz history books if only for his role on Miles Davis' landmark 1959 set Kind of Blue. But the pianist-composer and modal jazz innovator recorded over 50 live and studio albums as a leader before his untimely death in 1980 at the age of just 51, leaving behind a legacy of some of the most beautiful jazz ever committed to tape. In addition to Davis, he also served as a sideman to musicians including Chet Baker, Cannonball Adderley, Charles Mingus, and Lee Konitz. Now, Craft Recordings is celebrating Evans' expansive discography with his first ever career-spanning box set. Everybody Still Digs Bill Evans: A Career Retrospective (1956-1980) is due from the label on June 25. The thematically-organized 5-CD box set premieres a previously unreleased live set from 1975 recorded at Oil Can Harry's in Vancouver, British Columbia. That concert, titled On a Friday Evening, will be issued the same day as a standalone release in 2-LP, CD, and digital formats (including 192/24 and 96/24 high resolution options).

Everybody Still Digs Bill Evans: A Career Retrospective (1956-1980) covers many of Evans' key label affiliations as a leader including Riverside, Milestone, Fantasy, Verve, Warner Bros., and Elektra. (He was so prolific that he also recorded for United Artists, Atlantic, MGM, Philips, MPS, CTI, and Columbia.) Personnel includes Stan Getz, Shelly Manne, Kenny Burrell, and many other boldface names. The first two discs concentrate on Evans' legendary trios (with whom he released more than 40 LPs). The first CD draws on his Riverside period (roughly 1956-1963) during which time he played with such luminaries as Philly Joe Jones, Paul Chambers, and Sam Jones, to formally creating The Bill Evans Trio alongside drummer Paul Motian and bassist Scott LaFaro. Upon LaFaro's untimely passing in 1961 in a car accident, a grief-stricken Evans picked up the piece with musicians including Chuck Israels (bass) and Larry Bunker (drums). The second disc highlights his post-Riverside trio recordings with Eddie Gomez, Jack DeJohnette, Joe LaBarbera, and others.

Disc Three explores Evans' solo recordings (both truly solo and with overdubs of himself) including such notable recordings as "Peace Piece" and "Waltz for Debby" and his beautiful interpretations of Jule Styne, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green's "Make Someone Happy," Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer's "Emily," and Miles Davis' "Nardis." The fourth CD delves into his non-trio collaborations including Tony Bennett, guitarist Jim Hall, and pianist/radio personality Marian McPartland. Evans' quartet and quintet settings also are featured on this disc. The final disc of the box set presents On a Friday Evening, featuring Eddie Gomez on bass and Eliot Zigmund on drums. The June 20, 1975 gig at Vancouver's Oil Can Harry's was captured in its entirety for Canadian radio host Gary Barclay, who served as the announcer and later aired the concert on his CHQM Radio jazz show. The original tapes have been restored using the Plangent Process and mastered by Paul Blakemore.

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Produced by Nick Phillips, Everybody Still Digs Bill Evans: A Career Retrospective (1956-1980) is housed in a fabric-wrapped, hardcover book boasting 48 pages of photos and ephemera plus new liner notes from jazz historian Neil Tesser. The box will also be released in digital and streaming formats. The standalone release of On a Friday Evening will also feature Tesser's liner notes incorporating interviews and track-by-track commentary.

Everybody Still Digs Bill Evans: A Career Retrospective (1956-1980) looks to be a major addition to any jazz library and a deep dive into one of the most influential pianists of all time. Look for it at the links below from Craft Recordings on June 25.

Bill Evans, Everybody Still Digs Bill Evans: A Career Retrospective (1956-1980) (Craft Recordings, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: Trialogues, Vol. 1