Evans fans will enjoy hearing his music from a fresh perspective, and it works well as a guitar album too. But really, it’s just a solid jazz recording that doesn’t require homework to appreciate – the music speaks for itself.
Joplin Sweeney Music Company
Jim Witzel – guitar; Phil Aaron – piano; Dan Feiszli – bass; Jason Lewis – drums
With over thirty Bill Evans tribute albums recorded since his death in 1980—ranging from solo piano meditations to string quartet arrangements—the field is undeniably crowded. Yet guitarist Jim Witzel has found genuinely fresh territory with Very Early, Remembering Bill Evans, creating something that works both as homage and as a damn good jazz album on its own. What makes it particularly compelling is an intriguing role reversal. While pianist Phil Aaron doesn’t try to replicate Evans’s signature style, Witzel himself channels that contemplative essence.
Witzel is more modest about his approach, describing his style as “middle of the road” rather than particularly introspective, though his guitar choice—a Gibson ES-165 Herb Ellis model known for its ‘dark, woody tone’—certainly contributes to the album’s warm, contemplative sound.
Aaron, Witzel’s longtime collaborator and a pianist whose influences include Evans along with Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett, brings his own voice. On ‘Solar’—originally associated with Miles Davis but recorded memorably by Evans at the Village Vanguard—Aaron’s piano bounces joyfully up and down the keyboard, embracing a celebratory spirit that’s different from Evans’s more reserved approach.
Witzel opens ‘Beautiful Love’ with what he calls a “chord melody” approach, playing through the entire 32-bar form solo before the band joins in—a brief showcase of his harmonic sensibilities before diving into group improvisation.
On the title track ‘Very Early’—one of Evans’s own compositions and a gentle waltz with sophisticated harmonic movement—Witzel has a guitar tone that allows notes to “ping and hang in the air” with remarkable sustain. His approach is conversational rather than virtuosic, always in service of the song’s emotional content.
The rhythm section of bassist Dan Feiszli and drummer Jason Lewis deserves special recognition. Lewis’s drumwork is consistently tasteful, whether providing the light brush accompaniment on ‘Israel’ or the subtle cymbal work that underpins ‘Beautiful Love.’ His brief solo on ‘Solar’ is melodic and musical – he’s not trying to show off, just serving the song. Feiszli’s bass playing is both gutsy and elegant – he walks when he needs to walk, solos when it’s his turn, and always sounds like he’s having a conversation with the rest of the band.
This quartet chemistry is perhaps most evident on ‘Nardis,’ a piece closely associated with Evans though originally composed by Miles Davis. Where Evans’s various recordings of this modal piece emphasized space, silence, and gradual dramatic build, Witzel’s version creates a more groove-oriented conversation. The moody unaccompanied bass introduction gives way to a more rhythmic feel, with Aaron’s comping sitting perfectly behind Witzel’s melodic statements. When Aaron solos, his lines are fluid and relaxed rather than brooding, transforming Evans’s often melancholic signature piece into something more optimistic.
The transformation of material continues throughout the album. ‘Israel,’ originally from Miles Davis’s “Birth of the Cool” and known for its structured, cerebral cool jazz aesthetic, becomes something fluid and cheerful under this quartet’s interpretation. Aaron’s piano explores the melody with an easy, relaxed feel, and the whole performance has a warmth and spontaneity that gives the tune a completely different character.
Even on the slower, more melancholic numbers like Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Some Other Time,’ the quartet finds a way to lift the mood. Aaron starts things off tenderly, but when Witzel comes in with his beautiful guitar lines, they gradually steer it toward something more hopeful without sounding saccharine.
Worth mentioning that bassist Feiszli also engineered the album, and it sounds great – you can hear everything clearly without it feeling overly produced. Witzel’s guitar in particular comes through beautifully, with that ringing, sustained tone that makes his playing so appealing.
What emerges from Very Early, Remembering Bill Evans, is a recording that succeeds precisely because it doesn’t try to be a Bill Evans album. Instead, it’s a Jim Witzel album that happens to explore Evans’s repertoire, with Aaron’s contrasting non-Evans piano approach providing the perfect foil for Witzel’s more introspective guitar work. The result honors Evans’s legacy while establishing its own musical identity.
Evans fans will enjoy hearing his music from a fresh perspective, and it works well as a guitar album too. But really, it’s just a solid jazz recording that doesn’t require homework to appreciate – the music speaks for itself.
