Waltz for Debby (1964 album)

This article is about the 1964 album with Monica Zetterlund. For the 1961 Village Vanguard recordings, see Waltz for Debby (1962 album).

Waltz for Debby is a 1964 album in English and Swedish by the trio of American jazz pianist Bill Evans and the Swedish singer Monica Zetterlund. Evans met her on a tour of Sweden and was "bowled over" by her EP recording of "Waltz for Debby" with a Swedish text titled "Monicas Vals." Evans's manager, Helen Keane, set up a recording session for them at the end of the Swedish tour.^[1]

Waltz for Debby
Studio album by Bill Evans, Monica Zetterlund
Released	December 1964
Recorded	August 29, 1964 Stockholm, Sweden
Genre	Vocal jazz
Label	Verve
Bill Evans chronology
The Bill Evans Trio "Live" (1964) Waltz for Debby (1964) Trio '65 (1965)
Alternative Cover
Cover of the 1997 West Wind reissue

The album was released on CD by West Wind in 1997 and reissued by Verve Records in 2006.^[2]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]

Writing for AllMusic, music critic Thom Jurek wrote of the album: "The match is seemingly perfect. Evans' lyricism is well suited to a breezy, sophisticated songstress like Monica Zetterlund. There is an iciness on this recording, but it is difficult to decipher if it is in the performance or in the engineering where she seems to be way out in front of the band, when she was really in the middle of all the musicians in the studio. ... The Swedish version of 'Waltz for Debby' is a true delight because Zetterlund's voice becomes another instrument, soloing over the top of Evans' stunning selection of comping chords. In all this is an odd but special item, one that is necessary—for at least one listen—by any serious fan of the pianist and composer."^[3]

Track listing

1. "Come Rain or Come Shine" (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) – 4:41
2. "A Beautiful Rose (Jag vet en dejlig rosa) – 2:53
3. "Once Upon a Summertime" (Eddie Barclay, Michel Legrand, Johnny Mercer) – 3:03
4. "So Long Big Time" (Harold Arlen, Dory Previn) – 3:49
5. "Waltz for Debby (Monicas Vals)" (Bill Evans, Beppe Wolgers) – 2:47
6. "Lucky to Be Me" (Leonard Bernstein) – 3:36
7. "Sorrow Wind (Vindarna Sucka) – 3:03
8. "It Could Happen to You" (Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen) – 3:00
9. "Some Other Time" (Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green) – 5:35
10. "In the Night (Om Natten)" (Olle Adolphson) – 1:40

Personnel

• Bill Evans – piano
• Monica Zetterlund – vocals
• Larry Bunker – drums
• Chuck Israels – bass

References

1. Pettinger, Peter, Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings, Yale University Press, 1998, pp. 157-58.
2. Verve Music Group web site entry.
3. Jurek, Thom. "Waltz for Debby > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved June 28, 2011.

External links

• Jazz Discography entries for Bill Evans
• Bill Evans Memorial Library discography