''Loose Blues'' (released as ''Unknown Session'' in Japan) is an album by jazz pianist Bill Evans released on the

Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

label, featuring performances by Evans with

Zoot Sims John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...

, Jim Hall, Ron Carter, and

Philly Joe Jones Joseph Rudolph "Philly Joe" Jones (July 15, 1923 – August 30, 1985) was an American jazz drummer. Biography Early career As a child, Jones appeared as a featured tap dancer on ''The Kiddie Show'' on the Philadelphia radio station WIP. He wa ...

, recorded in 1962.Bill Evans discography
accessed March 11, 2010.

History

''Loose Blues'' was recorded for the Riverside label, but eventually dropped mostly because of Riverside's forthcoming bankruptcy and the pressures of

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * ''The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ho ...

producer Creed Taylor – who wanted Evans on his Verve label.Original 1982 liner notes by Orrin Keepnews. So the project was shelved, and the recordings were released posthumously in 1982 as part of ''The "Interplay" Sessions'', after having been rediscovered in the

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its invest ...

vaults. This was, in fact, believed to be a lost album since producer

Orrin Keepnews Orrin Keepnews (March 2, 1923 – March 1, 2015) was an American jazz writer and record producer known for founding Riverside Records and Milestone Records, for freelance work, and for his work at other labels. Biography Early life Keepnews ...

could not find the master reels of the session dates, except for a take of "Loose Bloose". However, after a thorough research, he did succeed in finding the reels "stored in poorly marked tape boxes". The material was then assembled by Keepnews and Ed Michel. "Fudgesickle Built for Four" was named by Evans himself (reflecting his love of puns) and was a reference to "a bicycle built for two", a line from the popular song "

Daisy Bell "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)" is a song written in 1892 by British songwriter Harry Dacre with the well-known chorus "Daisy, Daisy / Give me your answer, do. / I'm half crazy / all for the love of you", ending with the words "a bicycle bu ...

". Keepnews, recalling the sessions, stated that "My Bells", which is characterized by difficult tempo changes, took 25 takes to be recorded properly. Evans would only revisit "

Time Remembered Time Remembered is a modal jazz standard piece by jazz pianist Bill Evans. Jack Reilly says that the work is both influenced by the sixteenth century modal works of the polyphonist masters (Palestrina, Byrd, Frescobaldi, etc.), and the oeuvre o ...

", " My Bells" and " Funkallero" for later recordings. The recordings were released as their own standalone album – ''Unknown Session'' – by Riverside in Japan, 1983. They were later reissued in the west by Milestone under the title ''Loose Blues''.

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

review by Scott Yanow states: "Due to some difficulties during the recording process (none of the sidemen were familiar with the often complex numbers), the results were originally shelved and lost for a couple of decades. This CD reissue shows that the music was actually much better than originally thought..., It is a pity that Evans and Sims (a logical combination) never did record together again."Yanow, S.

Allmusic Review AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

accessed March 11, 2010

Track listing

''All compositions by Bill Evans'' # "Loose Bloose" - 7:07 # "Loose Bloose" lternate take- 5:34 # "

" - 6:02 # " Funkallero" - 6:13 # "My Bells" - 5:24 # "There Came You" - 5:52 # "Fudgesickle Built for Four" - 4:31 # "Fun Ride" - 5:15 ''Tracks 1-4 and 7 recorded on August 21, 1962; tracks 5, 6, 8 recorded on August 22, 1962.''

Personnel

* Bill Evans -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

* Jim Hall -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Ron Carter - bass *

- drums

References

{{Authority control 1982 albums Milestone Records albums Bill Evans albums Zoot Sims albums Albums produced by Orrin Keepnews