Bill Evans Trio - Highlights From Turn Out the S [CD]

HIGHLIGHTS FROM TURN OUT THE STARS is compiled from the six-disc TURN OUT THE STARS: THE FINAL VILLAGE VANGUARD RECORDINGS box set. These tracks represent Evans' handpicked selections for a double LP originally scheduled for release in late 1980. Bill Evans died in September 1980.

Listening to these performances one is struck by how little Evans' overall style had changed in the 24 years since his 1956 debut. His luxuriously-phrased piano lines, almost horn-like in their length and melodicism, never lapse into mere vapid prettiness (even on tunes as slick as Paul Simon's "I Do It For Your Love") due to their cerebral, near-abstract quality. Bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera are an intuitive unit, responding with ease and grace to their leader's occasional flights of fancy. With outstanding performances all around, the resurrected tracks on HIGHLIGHTS prove a treasure, marking Evans as one of the greats.