Sunday at the Village Vanguard

Sunday at the Village Vanguard
Sunday at the Village Vanguard
Live album by the Bill Evans Trio
Released	Early October 1961
Recorded	June 25, 1961
Venue	Village Vanguard, New York City
Genre	Jazz
Length	42:03 (original LP); 68:16 (CD reissue with bonus tracks)
Label	Riverside; RLP-376
Producer	Orrin Keepnews
Bill Evans chronology

Sunday at the Village Vanguard is a live album by jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans and his Trio consisting of Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian. Released in 1961, the album is routinely ranked as one of the best live jazz recordings of all time.

History[]

Sunday at the Village Vanguard was drawn from material recorded during five sets on June 25, 1961, at the Village Vanguard in New York City. This was the last performance by the Bill Evans Trio with bassist Scott LaFaro, who was killed in a car accident eleven days after the recording.^[2]

Evans and producer Orrin Keepnews reportedly selected the tracks for Sunday at the Village Vanguard to best feature LaFaro's masterly performance on bass, beginning and ending with two tracks ("Gloria's Step" and "Jade Visions") written by LaFaro himself, and with all the others featuring solos by him. This album is routinely ranked as one of the best live jazz recordings of all time.^[3]^[4]

Additional material from the same day's performance was released in a second album Waltz for Debby (also 1961), as was other material in another LP Bill Evans — More From the Vanguard. The entire day's recordings were released in 2005 as The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961.

Reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Down Beat (Original LP version)	^[5]
AllMusic	^[2]
Penguin Guide to Jazz	^[4]
All About Jazz	^[6]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	^[7]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[8]

Writing for AllMusic, music critic Thom Jurek wrote of the album: "This trio is still widely regarded as his finest, largely because of the symbiotic interplay between its members. This is a great place to begin with Evans."^[2] C. Michael Bailey of All About Jazz wrote: "Along with bassist wunderkind Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian, Evans perfected his democratic vision of trio cooperation, where all members performed with perfect empathy and telepathy... It is these performances, currently available as Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby that comprise the number one best jazz live recording in this present series."^[6]

Starting in 1992, both this album and its successor Waltz for Debby have been awarded a crown in all nine editions of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings.^[9]^[10] In 2000, it was voted number 946 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.^[11] In 2005, the album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Reissue[]

In 2006, Riverside issued a three-CD box set containing virtually all the material recorded at the Village Vanguard (one number has been lost). While all of this music was available on the Riverside Bill Evans box set, this re-issue has had the audience ambiance enhanced and includes introductions, on-stage discussions between the musicians, interaction with the audience, and a few bars of music that Evans improvised to fill out the tape at the end of the night.

Track listing[]

"Gloria's Step" (take 2) (Scott LaFaro) – 6:09
"My Man's Gone Now" (George Gershwin) – 6:21
"Solar" (Miles Davis) – 8:52
"Alice in Wonderland" (take 2) (Sammy Fain) – 8:34
"All of You" (take 2) (Cole Porter) – 8:17
"Jade Visions" (take 2) (Scott LaFaro) – 3:44

CD bonus tracks[]

"Gloria's Step" (take 3) – 6:54
"Alice in Wonderland" (take 1) – 6:59
"All of You" (take 3) – 8:03
"Jade Visions" (take 1) – 4:16

Personnel[]

Bill Evans – Piano
Scott LaFaro – Bass
Paul Motian – Drums

Credits[]

Orrin Keepnews – Producer
Dave Jones – Recording engineer

References[]

^ Billboard Oct 16, 1961
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Jurek, Thom. Bill Evans Trio: Sunday at the Village Vanguard – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
^ All About Jazz: Best Live Jazz Recordings (1953-65)
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Penguin Guide To Jazz: "Five Star" Recordings". Penguin Guide to Jazz. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
^ Down Beat: March 1, 1962 vol. 29, no. 5
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Bailey, C. Michael (November 1, 2005). "Bill Evans Trio: Sunday At The Village Vanguard & Waltz For Debby". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on April 26, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 74. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
^ Cook, Richard, and Morton, Brian, editors. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. London, Penguin Books Ltd., 2008, ninth edition, p. 456.
^ Tom Hull Penguin Guide jazz crown list retrieved 26 June 2021.
^ Colin Larkin (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 287. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.

External links[]

Bill Evans entry at the Jazz Discography Project

[1] Billboard Oct 16, 1961

[AM-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Jurek, Thom. Bill Evans Trio: Sunday at the Village Vanguard – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved April 26, 2020.

[3] All About Jazz: Best Live Jazz Recordings (1953-65)

[PGTJ-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Penguin Guide To Jazz: "Five Star" Recordings". Penguin Guide to Jazz. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2011.

[5] Down Beat: March 1, 1962 vol. 29, no. 5

[AAJ-6] Jump up to: ^a ^b Bailey, C. Michael (November 1, 2005). "Bill Evans Trio: Sunday At The Village Vanguard & Waltz For Debby". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on April 26, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2020.

[RSJRG-7] Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 74. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.

[8] Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.

[9] Cook, Richard, and Morton, Brian, editors. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. London, Penguin Books Ltd., 2008, ninth edition, p. 456.

[10] Tom Hull Penguin Guide jazz crown list retrieved 26 June 2021.

[Larkin-11] Colin Larkin (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 287. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.

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show v t Bill Evans
Discography
As leader	New Jazz Conceptions Tenderly: An Informal Session Everybody Digs Bill Evans On Green Dolphin Street The Ivory Hunters Portrait in Jazz Know What I Mean? Explorations Sunday at the Village Vanguard Waltz for Debby Nirvana Undercurrent Moon Beams How My Heart Sings! Interplay Empathy Loose Blues The Solo Sessions, Vol. 1 The Solo Sessions, Vol. 2 The Gary McFarland Orchestra Conversations With Myself Plays the Theme from The V.I.P.s and Other Great Songs Time Remembered At Shelly's Manne-Hole Trio 64 Stan Getz & Bill Evans The Bill Evans Trio "Live" Waltz for Debby Trio '65 Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra Bill Evans at Town Hall Intermodulation A Simple Matter of Conviction Further Conversations with Myself California Here I Come Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival Alone What's New Jazzhouse You're Gonna Hear from Me From Left to Right Quiet Now Montreux II Piano Player The Bill Evans Album Living Time The Tokyo Concert Eloquence Half Moon Bay Since We Met Re: Person I Knew Symbiosis But Beautiful Blue in Green: The Concert in Canada Intuition The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album Montreux III Alone (Again) Quintessence Together Again Crosscurrents I Will Say Goodbye You Must Believe in Spring Getting Sentimental New Conversations Live in Buenos Aires 1979 Affinity Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz We Will Meet Again Homecoming The Paris Concert: Edition One The Paris Concert: Edition Two Turn Out the Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings Letter to Evan Turn Out the Stars The Last Waltz: The Final Recordings Consecration: The Final Recordings Part 2
Compositions	"Waltz for Debby" "Blue in Green" "Flamenco Sketches" "Time Remembered" "Peace Piece"
Band members	Monty Budwig Larry Bunker Jack DeJohnette Eddie Gómez Chuck Israels Marc Johnson Philly Joe Jones Sam Jones Teddy Kotick Joe LaBarbera Scott LaFaro Michael Moore Marty Morell Paul Motian Gary Peacock
Associated musicians	Cannonball Adderley Chet Baker Tony Bennett Bob Brookmeyer Kenny Burrell Ron Carter Miles Davis Stan Getz Jim Hall Freddie Hubbard Lee Konitz Harold Land Shelly Manne Warne Marsh Claus Ogerman George Russell Zoot Sims Toots Thielemans Monica Zetterlund
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Tethered Moon	(Masabumi Kikuchi, Paul Motian and Gary Peacock) First Meeting (1990–91) Tethered Moon Play Kurt Weill (1994) Chansons d’Édith Piaf (1999) Experiencing Tosca (2002)
Trio	(Geri Allen, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian) Etudes (1987) In the Year of the Dragon (1989) Segments (1989) The Montreal Tapes: with Geri Allen and Paul Motian (Haden, 1989) Live at the Village Vanguard (1990)
Discography