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 - The quintessential trio at their peakJazz piano heaven. This is the long-awaited full day of music from all the various Village Vanguard releases over the years. Every note is here, as well as some between songs chatter. The various takes of various songs add up to a master class in piano and bass improvising; LaFaro died shortly after this day and Evans was never the same. Thankfully, we have this sublime music from their unique interplay at its apex. This is a great buy; over two and a half hours of transcendent jazz in perfectly remastered sound for twenty bucks (and you can then burn all the music onto two cds, it just fits; you'll never get angry during rush hour again with this music playing). It truly sounds fabulous, much finer than the earlier cds of this material, warm and immediate. It's so real that the chatter of folks in the quiet moments often makes me think there's someone else in the room with me (and how can they talk while this music is being played? Some folks just don't know good music even when they're sitting beside the piano). My only qualm is the endless bass soloing. Yes, LaFaro was a very musical and sensitive player, but I just can't take the minutes-long excursions on almost every tune. It's a monophonic instrument, and frankly even LaFaro gets boring to my ears, especially when one of the all-time piano geniuses is sitting unused three feet away. Scott's genius was how he pushed Bill to play at his outer limits while creating superb counterpoint to Evans' ideas; the bass soloing sounds nice once every three tunes or so, but I just find it boring after a while; the bass is not a solo instrument that excites me. But, each to his own! Some Evans fans consider this date his ultimate moment. It's certainly one of them, but there are so many gems it's hard to pick just one. Suffice to say that alongside Portrait In Jazz, Know What I Mean, Moonbeams, Everybody Digs, Undercurrent, the Keystone dates in 1980, the Paris Concert, the solo albums, and oh, a handful of others, it's glorious proof that Evans was one of the finest pianists, jazz, classical or otherwise, to grace this planet. A must in any jazz library. Rating: - This is incredible!This has become one of my favorite jazz recordings. I never heard the original vinyl, but, even if there was extensive processing and restoration, here, you won't believe the quality of this recording. Kudos to the original engineers. With that out of the way, Bill Evans is impeccable, and I'd never heard of Scott LaFaro (on bass), but he really rocks here. I could (and do) listen to this set over and over again. Six stars! Rating: - Jazz time travel As the applause reveals (you can almost count the pairs of hands clapping by ear) and the sleeve notes confirm, there weren't many people at the Village Vanguard on that now famous afternoon and evening. Today, how many people must wish they were there. This superb box set is the next best thing. Rating: - A piece of historyFor your ears only.....some people think that Bill evans is a "nice musician" Like its musac in an elevator. Listen to "my foolish heart" with headphones on, eyes closed, cranked! Let yourself get inside the music...listen to the subtleness of his playing...let it take you on a journey. This song, I think, shows the essence of bill evans. Scott lafaro and evans together is a killer combo, unfortunately there is not much out there from their short collaberation. This makes this 3 disc set a must own! Rating: - It's like being thereI was lucky enough to hear Bill Evans, Paul Motian and Scott LaFaro in person at the Vanguard. This recording is the next best thing to being there because you hear everything the recordng engineer heard. Being there was unforgettable. Evans is the Chopin of America, in my opinion, except Chopin didn't swing or (to my knowledge) improvise. This group of sidemen constituted Evans' best trio ever.
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