ALL THAT JAZZ

BY SIMON ADAMS

REVIEWS

BILL EVANS Live At Ronnie Scott’s (Resonant).

American pianist Bill Evans is best known for his work on Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and for his stunning gigs at New York’s Village Vanguard in 1961. But in July 1968 he and his trio of Eddie Gomez on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums settled into London’s famous Ronnie Scott’s club for a four-week-residency, the highlights of which are collected together on this two-CD set.

The material is a mix of Evans originals and Songbook standards, played by Evans in his typically rhapsodic, modal style. Bass and drums work as independent drivers of each song, DeJohnette particularly impressive given that he was only 25 at the time.

Sound quality is a bit thin, but this is a live set that gradually draws you in as if you were in the audience. One person who was in that audience was Miles Davis, and within a few weeks he had poached DeJohnette for his own band. That’s show business!

SARAH MOULE Stormy Emotions: Songs by Fran Landesman (33Jazz).

Fran Landesman should need no introduction for, as a New York lyricist and poet, she was unsurpassed. She liked to shock: her luxury item when she appeared on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs was a supply of cannabis seeds.

There were complaints. In 1994, while living in London, she met the composer and pianist Simon Wallace, and collaborated with him until her death in 2011.

As Landesman explained: “I got lucky meeting Simon. That he married Sarah Moule was a bonus. She’s the jazz singer par excellence.”

On this fine set, Moule sings 12 Landesman songs, all the music written by Wallace. Landesman’s lyrics require careful diction, but Moule delivers that perfectly, knowing when to hold back, to stretch out a phrase, to sing the sense and not just the line. A classy set of witty, poignant songs.

RON MILES Rainbow Sign (Blue Note).

American trumpeter Ron Miles usually comes up with something interesting to say, often in company with that great electric guitarist of all sounds Americana, Bill Frisell.

On his new set, accompanied once again by Frisell and an all-star rhythm section of Jason Moran on piano, Thomas Morgan on bass and Brian Blade on drums, Miles lays down a set of funky, quirky songs that sort of shift along with an easy lilt to them.

Miles’ trumpet tone is warm and burnished, his delivery measured and refined, a good fit with Frisell’s off-beam contributions and sonic contortions. Personally, I could have heard more of Jason Moran, always a pianist with a point to make, but I quibble, for this is a fine set from a strong band.