Bill Evans: The Final Village Vanguard Sessions (1980) その美音に気がつくのが

Bill Evans: The Final Village Vanguard Sessions - June, 1980 (Mosaic Records)
MQ10-171
Record One
------[June 4, set two]------
A1. Bill's Hit Tune 7:49
A2. Nardis 15:36
------[June 4, set three]------
B1. If You Could See Me Now 5:44
June 5, set one]
B2. The Two Lonely People 7:10
B3. Laurie 6:32
Record Two
------[June 5, set two]------
A1. My Romance 7:47
A2. Tiffany 5:41
A3. Like Someone In Love 7:35
B1. Letter To Evan 5:19
B2. Days Of Wine And Roses 8:59
B3. Emily 4:09
Record Three
A1. My Foolish Heart 4:10
A2. Nardis 16:17
------[June 5, set three]------
B1. Yet Ne'er Broken 6:37
B2. Quiet Now 5:10
B3. But Not For Me 7:55
Record Four
A1. Spring Is Here 4:20
A2. Autumn Leaves 5:05
------[June 6, set one]------
A3. Your Story 3:57
A4. Re: Person I knew 4:31
B1. Polka Dots And Moonbeams 6:22
B2. The Two Lonely People 7:06
B3. Theme From M*A*S*H 4:07
Record Five
A1. Tiffany 5:25
A2. Turn Out The Stars 6:20
A3. Laurie 6:23
B1. My Romance 8:19
------[June 5, set two]------
B2. Knit For Mary E 6:13
B3. Midnight Mood 5:50
Record Six
A1. Time Remembered 5:36
A2. Days Of Wine And Roses 8:48
A3. Up With The Lark 5:14
B1. Nardis 15:01
------[June 5, set three]------
B2. Your Story 3:55
Record Seven
A1. Yet Ne'er Broken 6:49
A2. If You Could See Me Now 6:17
A3. Bill's Hit Tune 7:48
B1. Tiffany 4:57
B2. In Your Own Sweet Way 9:57
B3. I Do It All For Your Love 5:17
Record Eight
A1. Five 4:06
------[June 6, set one]------
A2. Polka Dots And Moonbeams 5:58
A3. Bill's Hit Tune 8:52
B1. Turn Out The Stars 5:55
B2. Days Of Wine And Roses 7:31
------[June 6, set two]------
B3. But Not For Me 6:56
Record Nine
A1. Knit For Mary E 6:25
A2. Like Someone In Love 7:33
A3. Quiet Now 5:12
A4. Emily 4:15
B1. I Do It For Love 5:38
B2. Nardis 15:55
Record Ten
------[June 6, set three]------
A1. Knit For Mary E 6:01
A2. Like Someone In Love 6:21
A3. Letter To Evan 6:55
B1. Minha 3:17
B2. A Sleepin' Bee 4:26
B3. My Romance/Five 10:08

Bill Evans(p), Marc Johnson(b), Joe LaBarbera(ds)
Original recording, remixing engineer: Malcolm Addey
Recording assistant: Jon Bobenko
Mastered by Master Cutting Room
Original producer: Helen Keane
Release producer : Bill Kirchner, Jeff Levenson
Exective producer: Michael Cuscuna, Charlie Laurie
Notes
Recorded June 4,5,6,8, 1980 the Village Vanguard, NYC

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その美音に気がつくのが遅かった、のだと思う。

既にこのセッションはTurn out the starとう名称でワーナー（その後、Nonesuch）から発売されている。さすがにワーナーの公式録音なので、音質もバランスも素晴らしい。CDを改めて聴き直したが、誇張のない自然な録音。少しボリュームを上げると、左からエヴァンス、ジョンソン、ラバーバラが行儀良く並んでいる光景が浮かぶ。DACを変えたからなのか、ディジタル音源であっても美音が沁みる。ジョンソンのベースの増幅音臭が少しだけ気になるが、そんなに酷くはない。なんで購入時に気がつかなかったのだろう。

演奏もキーストンコーナーでのライヴに比べると抑制的であり、破綻的な速さ、はない。セットリストをみると、それなりには選んでいるので、そのような演奏はrejectされているのかもしれない。だからこそ、聴き手に余計な思念、のようなものを抱かさない、演奏として純粋に愉しめるようになっている。奏者が収録を意識している、そのような部分もあると思う。だから終末期のエヴァンスが弾くピアノの打音の美しさを存分に感じることができる。

録音面、演奏面でのピアノの美しさに気がついたのが、今頃になってしまったのが不思議だ。

さて、昨日届いたレコード盤。ワーナーからの発売（1980年）と同じタイミング。creditをみると、ワーナー盤と全く同じ。つまりMosaic recordsの暖簾で、ワーナーのメンバーが出したレコードのようだ。カスクーナがExective producerというcreditも、そういうことなのだろう。カスクーナの作る再発って、記録的には面白いものを掘っているが、音には無頓着な印象がある。だから本盤の入手を躊躇ったが、杞憂だったようだ。

その音質だけど、CDのフラットで自然な印象を踏襲。そのうえでレコード的な甘みとも云える音圧が高めになっている。だから少し、そのようなイコライズを入れたのだろうが、絶妙な感じ。CDでのフラットで自然な印象をさほど損なわず、音の厚みを加味している。その味付けが好みにピッタリ入って、実に美味しい。そんな訳で昨日からボックスの半分は聴いた。

すごく高価で入手を躊躇っていたが、いや良い買い物だったと思う。昨今、桁が１つ上に高騰したRiverside 4部作のモノラル盤１枚、よりは安価だからヨシ、としよう。デビーのOrpheum盤ですら２万円以上らしい。クワバラクワバラ。

Producer's Note:
The selection process for this collection was made both easy and difficult by the fact that the musical level over the span of four nights of recording was very high — often extraordinary. Only the first set of the first night was totally unusable, which Evans himself intimated in an interview with Ted O'Reilly in August 1980. Otherwise, it was largely a matter of deciding one's preference in pearls. In particular, I wanted to include multiple versions of four new and previously unrecorded Evans originals, YOUR STORY, TIFFANY, YET NE'ER BROKEN and KNIT FOR MARY F. For the sake of variety, I picked as many different themes as possible, especially favoring those which the trio played only once during the four nights. Every tune recorded during the engagement is represented here with the exception of VERY EARLY and THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT. The version of VERY EARLY, a much recorded item in Evans's repertoire, was just routine by the trio's standards. The solo version of THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT was not a developed performance, essentially a piano warm-up.
Of the untitled tune listed twice in the discography, Marc Johnson reports that Evans often taught him tunes during sound checks. It sounds as if this item was a work in progress that Evans was teaching his bassist. It has been copyrighted with the working title BILL's NEW SOLO. A focal point of the project are the four versions of NARDIS, all exciting and varied within the parameters of the trio's arrangement, and all showing Evans, Johnson and LaBarbera at the peak of their individual powers. I firmly believe that these performances will be discussed and dissected by musicians, scholars and fans for years to come.
A footnote: you'll notice that there is an abrupt, applause-less cut-off at the end of the final evening's last selection. The reel of tape ran out at that very moment a Rod Serling-esque finale to the engagement and to Evans's triumphant-tragic career.
—Bill Kirchner
August 1996