Waltz for Debby (1962 album)

This article is about the 1961 Village Vanguard recordings. For the 1964 album with Monica Zetterlund, see Waltz for Debby (1964 album).

Waltz for Debby is a live album by jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans and his trio consisting of Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian. It was released in 1962.

Waltz for Debby
Live album by the Bill Evans Trio
Released	End of February/Early March 1962[1]
Recorded	June 25, 1961
Venue	Village Vanguard, New York City
Genre	Cool jazz
Length	38:29
Label	Riverside
Producer	Orrin Keepnews
Bill Evans chronology
Sunday at the Village Vanguard (1961) Waltz for Debby (1962) Undercurrent (1962)

History

The album was the fourth and final effort from the unit—LaFaro died in a car accident just ten days after the live date at the Village Vanguard from which Waltz for Debby and its predecessor, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, were taken. The loss of LaFaro hit Evans hard, and he went into a brief reclusion. When Evans returned to the trio format later in 1962, it was with Motian and bassist Chuck Israels.^[2]

The title track, a musical portrait of Evans' niece, became a staple of his live repertoire in later years. It originally appeared as a solo piano piece on Evans' debut album, New Jazz Conceptions. It remains what is likely Evans' most well-known song,^{[citation needed]} one that he would play throughout his career.

The CD reissue of the album contains several outtakes. The entire day's recordings were released in 2005 as The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
All About Jazz	[3]
AllMusic	[4]
DownBeat	[5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[6]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	[7]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[8]

The album is widely considered to be one of the best in the Evans canon, and the type of emotive interplay between the musicians that at some points seemed almost deconstructed has served as a model for piano trio play.^[9]

AllMusic critic Thom Jurek wrote: "While the Sunday at the Village Vanguard album focused on material where LaFaro soloed prominently, this is far more a portrait of the trio on those dates... Of the many recordings Evans issued, the two Vanguard dates and Explorations are the ultimate expressions of his legendary trio."^[4] C. Michael Bailey of All About Jazz wrote: "Along with Bassist wunderkind Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian, Evans perfected his democratic vision of trio cooperation, where all members performed with perfect empathy and telepathy... It is these performances, currently available as Sunday at The Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby that comprise the number one best jazz live recording in this present series."^[3]

It was voted number 465 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).^[10]

Track listing

LP track listing

1. "My Foolish Heart" (Victor Young, Ned Washington) – 4:58
2. "Waltz for Debby" [Take 2] (Bill Evans, Gene Lees) – 7:00
3. "Detour Ahead" [Take 2] (Lou Carter, Herb Ellis, Johnny Frigo) – 7:37
4. "My Romance" [Take 1] (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 7:13
5. "Some Other Time" (Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green) – 5:11
6. "Milestones" (Miles Davis) – 6:30

CD track listing

1. "My Foolish Heart" 4:56
2. "Waltz for Debby" [Take 2] 7:00
3. "Waltz for Debby" [Take 1] 6:46
4. "Detour Ahead" [Take 2] 7:37
5. "Detour Ahead" [Take 1] 7:13
6. "My Romance" [Take 1] 7:12
7. "My Romance" [Take 2] 7:15
8. "Some Other Time" 5:11
9. "Milestones" 6:30
10. "Porgy (I Loves You, Porgy)" 5:58

• Note on the alternate takes: "For this CD release, alternate versions of three of the six selections have been inserted just after the ones originally chosen for issuance.[...] The three not duplicated here were played only once that day. Also included is "Porgy", originally omitted for lack of space.[...]" (Orrin Keepnews excerpt from the booklet)

Personnel

• Bill Evans – piano
• Scott LaFaro – bass
• Paul Motian – drums

References

1. Billboard Mar 10, 1962
2. "家具の購入ナビゲート". Archived from the original on 2014-05-16. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
3. Bailey, C. Michael (November 1, 2005). "Bill Evans Trio: Sunday At The Village Vanguard & Waltz For Debby". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on April 26, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
4. Jurek, Thom. Bill Evans Trio: Waltz for Debby – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
5. DownBeat: April 26, 1962 vol. 29, no. 9
6. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
7. "The Penguin Guide to Jazz: "Five Star" Recordings". The Penguin Guide to Jazz. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
8. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 73. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
9. Hobbs, Leander (2017-01-15). "All About Jazz". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
10. Colin Larkin, ed. (2006). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 167. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.