Board of Advisors: Warren Bernhardt A Quarterly Publication Dedicated to Bea T ry =P aE Pa cod Chuck Israels Peniitoess Crane Zn Ron Nethercutt Winter 1993 - ISSN # 1056-4179 Vol. 4, No. 2, Price: $5.00 News a 1 im suby, pisnist Waren Bemhart performed in the Tel Aviv Jazz Festival, organized ty flninaker and Jong tine fiend of Bill Evans, Francis Poudras. Th festival featured tributes to many of Pours favorite misicians including [Bvam, Dizzy, and Bird. Beahar also has & new CD out ‘Reflections,on the DMP label, This CD features a dfforeat trestmen ofthe tune Bill Evans tne ‘Re: Person I Knew" French Jazz pianist Bernard Maury will be teaching ina new jaz2 school to be established in Pais. The school wil have @ Bill Evans wing as well as a Dake Ellingion wing Mote details as they ative C1 Pinsise Sack Reilly has entered into an agreement to piblish several ancles on Bill Evans compositions in lapan Many ofthese articles fist appeared in LFE. C1 Bassist Red Mitchel hes passed awey.T' mshi very much, CO There are five (count “em) new Bill EvansCDs reviewed in this ise. Many Thanks to Phil Bikey for his eontribu- Evans fans cannot complain about not having new listening material, The recordings done at Romie Scom's Civ are worthy of your attention. 1 Tixxecortempiating the release of Bill Evans materials Should rad the legal notice inthe October 31, 1992 issue of BillBoard Magazine. The adress of tho aitomey ropre- senting the Estate of Bill Evans is Stephen R. Lowy, Budd Wilkie Blvd, 8th Foor, Beverly Hills, CA 90211, phone (213) 653-8444, 1. Volume ‘Two of Jazz at The Maintenance Shop is svail- able in Jepun on Laser Video Disc. The label is VAP Inc. Tol. Volume One has been out for several months inthe USA. These performances were produced andtapedby lown Public Television, Ames, fowa,in January 1979. don’ thave 2 video dise player yet. I saw some avalabe atthe local electronic surplus dealer about a yearago forless than a $100 but didn't bay one. Ofcourse, they are gue now. New ones cost $600 and up. I hope the company will make VHS releases available before too much longer. Tm very grateful wo Art Tofanelli for the compete ‘rarscription of I Lover You, orgy" from At the Montrewr Jeez Festival, Verve CD #827-844-2 or LP #V6-8762, that appears inthis issue. Ar is areal frend to LFE and isto be cornmnded for his many hours o work. Readers will notice thatall the notes ae there, not ust the melody ne. Art and Tare till deciding onthe next pioce to turscibe and we are open for suggestions. We would prefer a solo piano version, cleary recorded, preferably of a Bill Evans Compesition. Copyright clearances on some standards canbe quite expen. LFE has procured some music printing software for Art so his next offering will be p:inted with mote conventional notation. Artis presently using aCAD érawing program with 1 library of music symbols that he designed. His copy work 'outstanding, even with the hoe-brew software. CO TFE Postearde are now available. Ten dollars will buy you pecket of 25 official LE Postcards, complete withthe In this Issue: News ..... eee oe 4 Letters .... i Great American Piano Competition .. 6 Frod Hersch Trio in Atlanta... ..... 10 MeCoy Tyner in Los Angeles... . CD Reviews Evans... . . CD Reviews -non-Evans . Interview - Win Hinkle. . - Interview - Henry Mancini . Transcription - “! Loves You, Porgy” . 20 Tribute Compositions List . .Letter from Evans, Winter 1983 LFE ogo to mail notes to your friends. By purchasing same, you be helping LFE as well as taking advantage of the lest remaining bargain from the U.S. Postal Service, 19 cents for domestic and 40 cents for foreign. Letters SS Dear Win, ‘As I was perusing the new issue of LFE, | came across « ‘most curious correspondence to you from an individual by the name of George Ziskind in the letiers section. I feel it is necessary to respond to this letter, as your response was less than adequate. ‘While itis evident that Mz, Ziskind doesn't appreciate my ‘musical efforts, his launching of what appears to be a personal, attackis totally inappropriate, as [have neverbad any personal, ‘contact with this individual, ‘As for some of the musical referencesin his letter, Socrates is the wrong place to look for an answer to his elementary question on the eifference between substitute chords and reharmonization. They are in fact one in the same. The tno ‘ment a substitute chord is used, reharmonization has occurred! If Mr. Ziskind is such a puristinhis devotionto the Gershwins, Aslens, etal., pethape he should rethink his admiration for Bill, Evans, as he freely and consistently reharmonized the works, of these composers. The composers he refers to wrete some {reat music, however none of them were true jez2 improvisers;, it sin fact the jazz improvisers Who have taken the melodies of these composers and set them to harmonies which lend themselves to the art of jazz improvisation ‘When I took my first lesson with Bill Evans in 1966, he spont a good deal of time demonstrating the art of rebarmoni zation, in great detail, ty playing several versions of “Some- day My Prince Will Come,” cach witha rotally new harmonic structare. [suggest he should pick up a copy of my Handbook of Chord Substitutions, to get some idess on how to make ‘music & more gratifying expeticace, both playing and listen ing! Until Mr. Ziskind expands his musical horizons, I'd advise ‘him not to listen to Coltrane, or any other post-1960 music, lesthe trigger transient ischemic attack: Sincerely, ‘Andy LaVerne Peekskill, NY This isa great response to a troubling opinion by Ziskind (see Leners, Vol. il, No. 6, page 4). I cannot solve Mr. Ziskind's paradox of being « jazz lover, even a Bill Evans lover, and his iconoclastic, arch-conservative stand on chord substitution. hope that is tirade against Andy LaVerne's (and practically every other jazz artist's) tendency to re-harmonize was done out ofboredom, ignorance, orjust aboutany reasonother thar @ personal artack. Everyone is entitied to his or her opinion, but there will be no personal attacks in these pages if Ihave Page LETTER FROM EVANS is publshed four times @ year at an annual subscripton tats of $20.00 (bulk Tate) in the continental. United States, $27,00 first class; $27.00 (thd class) in Alaska, Hawall, Canada, ‘and Mexico. The annual rate for Asia, Africa, and the Pacilic Rini is $60, The rate-in all other countries is $40 (funds in US. dollars): Previous issues are avail- able at $7.00 each ($8.50 foreign). Please allow eight weeks for delivery The opinions exprecsod herain ara no! necessarily those of the Publisher/Edt- tor, Win Hinke, of the Board of Advisors. Lettore to the editor are welcome on any subjact Advertising Will be accepted from Nims that have a product of genuine interest to tho Eill Evans onthusiast A rate eatd:is available on tequest. Non-commercial sources of Bil Evans materials may present notices for possible inclusion in LFE: The final determination ‘of suitability will be made at the Sole discreion of the Publisher/Editor. The cover logs, based on a phato- ‘graph by Jim Marshall, was designed by Mike Ning and is Used by permission. — ae ‘Board of Advisors: © Warren Bernhardt Chuck leraels ‘Ron Nethercutt Peter H. Larsen (vocant) Suaff Win Hinkle, Publisher/Editor-in-Chiel ElleriHinkle, Aseictant Editor. Toni Strollo, Copy Editor: Bill Montgomery, Editor for Asia Art Tofenelli, Transeription Editor. Letter from Evens Win Hinkle, Editor 2712 Cady Wey Winter Park, FL 32792-4856 etn Voice Phone (407) 678-7119 "BAX (407) 678-7049 Electronic Mail may be left for the editor on CompuServe #71083,2477 DISCLAIMER The editor/publisher, writers, and members of the Board of Advisors of LETTER FROM EVANS have never knowingly endorsed or ‘promoted any illegal auciio or video recordings.Letter from Evans, Winter 1993 anything to do with it. I hope that Ziskind and LaVerne do not know each other professionally or personally. When [first started writing aboutjacz, [tended to home on certain surjects, sometimes witha vengeance tat could be construed as a personal attack. [stil am just as opinionated, but ry 1 temper my writing by sticking to facts. In this ease the facts that jazz musicians love to change harmonic Struc sures and will continue todo so. t's hard io imagine shar any jazz musician worth listening 10 could play *Siella By Star Tight” (10 give a well-known exaraple) with the original tonic diminished seventh chord asthe fist chord change, the way the original sheet music was published. [think that Andy realizes that some LFE readers will write lewers 10 the editor — just to hear themselves tal. I's prety obvious thet Ziskind had a (tenporary, I hope) case of fot. inmouth-disease on his subject. I happersto all of us atone time or another, I've talked to George on the phone and found him 10 be very intelligent and an informed musician. Some- times when we get a pencil ypewriter or word processor tnder our fingers, we tendo become a Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. 1 think i's a By-product of being a musician. Lets forget it toughen our skins, and get on with more serious pursuits like listening, playing, talking, and writing abou: Bil Evans.— Ea, To the Editor: Your review of Tony Scott's Sung Heroes calls for the following observations. Sung Heroes was recorded at the studio and at the dates noted in the LP and CD that we released on Sunnyside. aul Motian, who was atthe sessions, confirmed the exact dates and location by consulting his agenda of that year. ‘The tapes are not “left overs.” We have the original tapes and boxes. Bust Koral says, “Just before Tony and Fran left for the Orient in 1959, the clarinetist made albums that focused on his, priorities. He taped a 52nd Sect uibutc for me on Corel, with, tan all-star cast. And he went into the studio to [do] this (Sung, Heroes) and one other set. It was asif he was putting his house in ower ‘The Art Pepper Society organising sceretaty, Tabasco Pete ‘Webb, editor of The NewsPepper newsletter. Tabasco Pete Webb, “Los Altos” 34c Dengrove Park, Canterbury Kent CT2 OPY, ENGLAND Tel. 0227 712342 ‘The sound was not re-engincered, The only thing that was done was to sequence the tunes differently. As you ean hear ‘ho attempt was made to lower the tape noise. If you had to raise the level to hear the chythm section, itis because we did not try to manipulate the sound to "equalize" the original recording, It is obvious that you are allergic 10 Tony Scott's music; thankfully Bill Evans was not. Please, in the future, give us more credit. We do not put out "left-overs” in our records and ‘we go as far as we cam todo the facts. Francois Zalacain New York, New York T stand by my appraisal. If Sco was ‘putting his house in order" with this studio session, his musical house must be as messy as my desk. There is simply no direction in the music ‘and the way is was recorded. The sound cries out for remixing, or "re-engineering" (perhaps “post-production” would be a ‘better phrase), but this was probably not possible since it was apparently recorded directly to two-track (the main format of. that era) I think that you misuse the word “equalize.” The bandwidth was fine, The rhythm section was simply recorded with too litle gain, by design or by accident. A litle judicious compression could have helped a great deal, since many ‘purchasers of the CD were looking forward w hearing Bill Evans, Scont LaFaro, and Paul Motian, nct being inundated ‘with what sounded like a four-hundred-pound clarinet The product sounds like "leftovers," but T'll take your word for it that it was produced without that intention. What- ever its origins, it is not up to the high standards set by ‘Sunnyside, I'm wiling to treat my allergic reactions 10 Tony Scott. welcome any recording showing a better side of Scom. Evans did see something in working with him. The musical relationship must have been fruitful. I'm very interested in exploring that relationship. This recording is void of any information in that direction Ed. Dear Mr. Hinkle: In response to your not being able to find a source for the Rah CD by Mark Murphy, in the United States itis out on Original Jazz Classics OJC-141 (Fantasy) (LP), ONC-S141 The Note A Newsletter of the Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection Dr. Larry Fisher, Chairman Music Department East Stroudsburg University East Stroudsburg, PA 18301 Pree