New Jazz Conceptions

New Jazz Conceptions is the debut album by jazz musician Bill Evans, released in 1957 on Riverside Records.

New Jazz Conceptions
Studio album by
Bill Evans
ReleasedEnd of February 1957[1]
RecordedSeptember 18 and 27, 1956
StudioReeves Sound Studios, New York City
GenreJazz
Length34:06 (original LP)
49:56 (CD reissue)
LabelRiverside
RLP 12-223
ProducerBill Grauer, Orrin Keepnews
Bill Evans chronology
New Jazz Conceptions
(1957)		 Everybody Digs Bill Evans
(1959)
Alternative cover
LP cover

History

Producer Orrin Keepnews of Riverside Records first determined to record Evans after hearing a tape of his playing. Eleven songs were recorded in the first session, including Evans' own "Waltz for Debby", which would prove to be his most recognized and recorded composition.[2]

New Jazz Conceptions was reissued in 2006 with a bonus track.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz(no rating) [3]
Allmusic [4]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[5]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[6]

Although a critical success that gained positive reviews in Down Beat and Metronome magazines, New Jazz Conceptions was initially a financial failure, selling only 800 copies the first year.[2]

Writing for Allmusic, music critic Scott Yanow said about the album: "Bill Evans' debut as a leader found the 27-year-old pianist already sounding much different than the usual Bud Powell-influenced keyboardists of the time... A strong start to a rather significant career."[4] David Rickert of All About Jazz noted the influence of Bud Powell and wrote "Even at this stage he had the chops to make this a good piano jazz album, but in the end it's not a very good Bill Evans album... There are glimpses of the later trademarks of Evans' style..."[3]

Track listing
  1. "I Love You" (Cole Porter) – 3:55
  2. "Five" (Bill Evans) – 4:03
  3. "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" (Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster) – 1:39
  4. "Conception" (George Shearing) – 4:47
  5. "Easy Living" (Leo Robin, Ralph Rainger) – 3:53
  6. "Displacement" (Evans) – 2:36
  7. "Speak Low" (Kurt Weill, Ogden Nash) – 5:10
  8. "Waltz for Debby" (Evans, Gene Lees) – 1:20
  9. "Our Delight" (Tadd Dameron) – 4:47
  10. "My Romance" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 2:01
  11. "No Cover, No Minimum" [Take 1] (Evans) – 8:14 Not part of original LP
  12. "No Cover, No Minimum" – 7:31

Personnel

Production
  • Orrin Keepnews - Producer
  • Bill Grauer - Producer
  • Jack Higgins - Engineer
  • Tamaki Beck - Mastering

References
  1. "Review Spotlight on...", Billboard, March 2, 1957, p. 30.
  2. Joel Simpson, "Bill Evans: 1929-1980", All About Jazz, August 27, 2004.
  3. Rickert, David. "New Jazz Conceptions > Review". All About Jazz. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  4. Yanow, Scott. "New Jazz Conceptions > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  5. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 73. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  6. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 455. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
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