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It's a good thing the tapes were rolling while Bill Evans was in residence at San Francisco's Keystone Korner during the fortnight before his death. Otherwise we wouldn't have The Last Waltz, an eight-CD set of previously unreleased material that documents the legendary pianist in a sustained burst of ebullient retrospection. In reimagining 35 tunes that encompass the full span of his career (we hear six completely distinctive versions of "Nardis" and three of "Turn Out the Stars," to name a few), Evans plays with astonishing technical virtuosity at the service of emotional projection, incessantly inventing vivid melodies, conveying his unique voicings with a subtle touch, linking choruses with deliberately evolving motifs that tell transcendent stories; you sense the urgency of an inflamed spirit who knows he has only so much time to say his piece, reaching out to the listener through every phrase. A miraculous sequence in the middle of disk 5, from a midweek Thursday, can stand for the gems to be found throughout this final masterpiece -- Evans probes every pore of "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," develops counterpoint of Tatumesque rhythmic complexity on "Like Someone in Love," limns pure melodic contours on "Your Story," and sets forth unbelievably inventive progressions on "Someday My Prince Will Come". bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe Labarbera, Evans's colleagues for the last three years of his life, unfailingly complement and comment upon the dying master's turns of phrase, epitomizing the notion of the trio as an equilateral triangle.
Condition:NEW. Brand New Factory Sealed
TRACK LISTINGS
Disc 1
1 After You, Who? 2:41
2 Like Someone in Love 6:56
3 Polka Dots and Moonbeams 7:03
4 Emily 5:43
5 Turn out the Stars 9:14
6 I Do It for Your Love 6:33
7 Nardis 7:18
8 But Beautiful 4:49
Disc 2
1 Yet Ne'er Broken 6:40
2 Knit for Mary F. 7:03
3 The Touch of Your Lips 5:29
4 My Man's Gone Now 6:52
5 Turn out the Stars 6:31
6 Your Story 5:12
7 Nardis 17:41
Disc 3
1 Peau Douce 5:43
2 Yet Ne'er Broken 6:08
3 My Foolish Heart 5:13
4 Up with the Lark 5:52
5 Turn out the Stars 8:01
6 I Do It for Your Love 6:07
7 Nardis 15:55
8 Noelle's Theme/I Loves You, Porgy 7:30
Disc 4
1 Yet Ne'er Broken 6:06
2 Spring Is Here 4:16
3 Who Can I Turn to (When Nobody Needs Me) 5:59
4 Letter to Evan 6:44
5 If You Could See Me Now 5:28
6 The Two Lonley People 6:43
7 A Sleepin' Bee 5:18
8 Haunted Heart 4:49
9 Five 4:19
Disc 5
1 Re: Person I Knew 4:02
2 Tiffany 5:36
3 Polka Dots and Moonbeams 6:16
4 Like Someone in Love 7:02
5 Your Story 4:26
6 Someday My Prince Will Come 7:05
7 Letter to Evan 6:28
8 My Romance 9:15
9 But Beautiful 4:03
Disc 6
1 Mornin' Glory 3:59
2 Emily 4:59
3 For Mary F 6:25
4 Days of Wine and Roses 7:46
5 Up with the Lark 5:19
6 My Foolish Heart 4:17
7 Nardis 15:17
8 But Beautiful 3:50
Disc 7
1 My Foolish Heart 4:03
2 Nardis 17:47
3 Mother of Pearl 5:04
4 If You Could See Me Now 5:49
5 My Man's Gone Now 4:36
6 Who Can I Turn to (When Nobody Needs Me) 6:05
7 Waltz for Debby 6:20
8 Spring Is Here 3:51
9 Five 3:53
Disc 8
1 Letter to Evan 8:07
2 My Man's Gone Now 6:27
3 34 Skidoo 6:27
4 Spring Is Here 4:43
5 Autumn Leaves 5:39
6 Knit for Mary F. 6:31
7 Nardis 19:35
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