New Jazz Conceptions
| New Jazz Conceptions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | End of February 1957[1] | |||
| Recorded | September 18 and 27, 1956 | |||
| Studio | Reeves Sound Studios, New York City | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 34:06 (original LP) 49:56 (CD reissue) | |||
| Label | Riverside RLP 12-223 | |||
| Producer | Bill Grauer, Orrin Keepnews | |||
| Bill Evans chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
 LP cover | ||||
New Jazz Conceptions is the debut album by jazz musician Bill Evans, released in 1957 on Riverside Records.
History[edit]
Producer Orrin Keepnews of Riverside Records first determined to record Evans after hearing a tape of his playing. Eleven songs were recorded in the first session, including Evans' own "Waltz for Debby", which would prove to be his most recognized and recorded composition.[2]
New Jazz Conceptions was reissued in 2006 with a bonus track.
Reception[edit]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| All About Jazz | (no rating) [3] |
| Allmusic |   [4] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [5] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [6] |
Although a critical success that gained positive reviews in Down Beat and Metronome magazines, New Jazz Conceptions was initially a financial failure, selling only 800 copies the first year.[2]
Writing for Allmusic, music critic Scott Yanow said about the album: "Bill Evans' debut as a leader found the 27-year-old pianist already sounding much different than the usual Bud Powell-influenced keyboardists of the time... A strong start to a rather significant career."[4] David Rickert of All About Jazz noted the influence of Bud Powell and wrote "Even at this stage he had the chops to make this a good piano jazz album, but in the end it's not a very good Bill Evans album... There are glimpses of the later trademarks of Evans' style..."[3]
Track listing[edit]
- "I Love You" (Cole Porter) – 3:55
- "Five" (Bill Evans) – 4:03
- "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" (Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster) – 1:39
- "Conception" (George Shearing) – 4:47
- "Easy Living" (Leo Robin, Ralph Rainger) – 3:53
- "Displacement" (Evans) – 2:36
- "Speak Low" (Kurt Weill, Ogden Nash) – 5:10
- "Waltz for Debby" (Evans, Gene Lees) – 1:20
- "Our Delight" (Tadd Dameron) – 4:47
- "My Romance" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 2:01
- "No Cover, No Minimum" [Take 1] (Evans) – 8:14 Not part of original LP
- "No Cover, No Minimum" – 7:31
Personnel[edit]
Production[edit]
- Orrin Keepnews - Producer
- Bill Grauer - Producer
- Jack Higgins - Engineer
- Tamaki Beck - Mastering
References[edit]
- ^ "Review Spotlight on...", Billboard, March 2, 1957, p. 30.
- ^ a b Joel Simpson, "Bill Evans: 1929-1980", All About Jazz, August 27, 2004.
- ^ a b Rickert, David. "New Jazz Conceptions > Review". All About Jazz. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
- ^ a b Yanow, Scott. "New Jazz Conceptions > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
- ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 73. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 455. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
