A Tribute to Bill Evans Monika Lang Trio

• 1 Turn out the stars 06:24
• 2 Very Early 05:08
• 3 Erna 05:46
• 4 B Minor Waltz (For Ellaine) 05:34
• 5 T.T.T. (Twelve Tone Tune) (Duo version) 02:55
• 6 Tom's Tune 03:18
• 7 Laurie - Re: Person I Knew 09:07
• 8 The Forgotten E-Flat 04:45
• 9 Sol y Ron 04:35
• 10 Time Remembered 05:58
• 11 T.T.T. (Twelve Tone Tune) (Solo version) 03:44
• Total Runtime 57:14

Info for A Tribute to Bill Evans

Monika Lang, who has a classical piano training and education at her disposal, has remained faithful to the 'Evans Feeling' in many sorts of ways. Regarding the 'B Minor Waltz' she just talks about a “fascination how he manages to modulate in a completely different key within only one bar and with only one chord which one nearly does not even notice!”

Otherwise, Monika Lang was simply mesmerized by this sheer subtle unagitated ingenuity. And the former mentioned “beauty”, a term which she also uses in this context, also led her to Bill Evans emotionally, even without the knowledge about the reviews and obituaries.

Finally, a couple of similar emotions dominate several compositions that the Monika Lang Trio added to their 'Tribute to Bill Evans': 'Tom’s Tune' is Lang’s equivalent to 'Re: Person I Knew'. In both of them, we can feel the most important persons of the artists’ life, the personal surroundings which inspire and stabilize.

Already at the end of the fifties the great Jazz pianist Bill Evans (1929 - 1980) was seen as one of the most important pianists in todays music scene. It comes as no surprise at all that soon even Miles Davis appreciated his sense of harmony and his lyricism. It was also quite unusual and controversial that Davis accepted him as the only white musician in his early sextet. After that, Evans, together with his piano trio, generally found his innermost and equally indicatory own form of expression. The result of this musical dialogue were style-forming concerts and recordings, based on the use of individually coloured chord voicings, an individual rhythm with a sort of subliminal, barely noticeable Swing, distinct dynamics, a nuanced touch and the subtle use of many stylistic devices from Jazz to classical music. Required qualification for this was, of course, a classical pianist training, but also a sort of linear vocal melody line that frequently orientated itself towards film music and the great composers of the American Songbook. In that way, Bill Evans came to be one of the most influential pianists of modern Jazz in the studios and especially on concert stages. Evans insecure and in bad health all his life was a drug addict and finally died of the many resulting afflictions and diseases. Added to that, furthermore came tragedies in his entourage the consequences were depression and increased drug use. Giving musical honour to Evans, as also did John McLaughlin and Pat Metheny, was by no means a rarity but much more of a special challenge. To face this challenge and also live up to it needs a special sort of ability to combine technical mastering, experience and also emotion.

Monika Lang Trio:
Monika Lang, piano
Uli Langthaler, double bass
Wolfgang Reisinger, drums

Monika Lang Trio
The Evans idea of freedom and equality of the united artists is also and even especially (just as in Evans’s case) based on an immense knowledge of classical music. Therefore, Monika Lang is able to draw on her several experiences in the field of chamber music with her specific communication among the musicians. In Wolfgang Reisinger playing the drums and Uli Langthaler playing the bass, she found two downright artist personalities with a long-lasting experience on stage and in the studios for her own “musical dialogue”, who also constantly expand their repertoire together with renowned stars of the national and international Jazz Scene. Quite clandestinely, the band has also compiled a so far fragmentary musical biography of Bill Evans. After all, the selected pieces reflect different kind of stages of the pianist’s life.

Booklet for A Tribute to Bill Evans