''Waltz for Debby'' is a live album by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist and composer

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

and his trio consisting of Evans, bassist

Scott LaFaro Rocco Scott LaFaro (April 3, 1936 – July 6, 1961) was an American jazz double bassist known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio. LaFaro broke new ground on the instrument, developing a countermelodic style of accompaniment rather than playing ...

, and drummer

Paul Motian Stephen Paul Motian (March 25, 1931 – November 22, 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer. Motian played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties. He first came to prominence in the l ...

. It was released in 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 The Village Vanguard is a jazz club at Seventh Avenue South in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on February 22, 1935, by Max Gordon. Originally, the club presented folk music and beat poetry, but it became primarily a jazz ...

from which ''Waltz for Debby'' and its predecessor, ''

Sunday at the Village Vanguard ''Sunday at the Village Vanguard'' is a live album by jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans and his Trio consisting of Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian. Released in 1961, the album is routinely ranked as one of the best live jaz ...

'', were taken. The loss of LaFaro hit Evans hard, and he went into a brief seclusion. When Evans returned to the trio format later in 1962, it was with Motian and bassist

Chuck Israels Charles H. Israels (born August 10, 1936) is an American jazz composer, music arranger, arranger, and double bass, bassist who is best known for his work with the Bill Evans#After LaFaro's death, Bill Evans Trio. He has also worked with Billie Ho ...

. 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 ''New Jazz Conceptions'' is the debut album by jazz musician Bill Evans, released in 1957 on Riverside Records. History Producer Orrin Keepnews of Riverside Records first determined to record Evans after hearing a tape of his playing. Eleven son ...

''. It remains what is likely Evans' most well-known song, 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 ''The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961'', a three-CD box set released in 2005, marks the first time the entire Bill Evans Trio's complete sets at the Village Vanguard on June 25, 1961 have been released in their entirety (outside of ...

''.

Reception

This 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. Writing for

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 databas ...

, music critic Thom Jurek wrote of the album: "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." C. Michael Bailey of

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

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." It was voted number 465 in the third edition of

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

'' (2000).

Track listing

LP track listing

# " My Foolish Heart" (

Victor Young Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899– November 10, 1956)"Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", ''Oakland Tribune'', November 12, 1956. was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. Biography Young is commonly said to ...

Ned Washington Ned Washington (born Edward Michael Washington, August 15, 1901 – December 20, 1976) was an American lyricist born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Life and career Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962. He won the Bes ...

) – 4:58 # " Waltz for Debby"

ake 2 Ake (or Aké in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It's located in the municipality of Tixkokob, in the Mexican state of Yucatán; 40 km (25 mi) east of Mérida, Yucatán. The name ...

(

Gene Lees Frederick Eugene John Lees (February 8, 1928 – April 22, 2010) was a Canadian music critic, biographer, lyricist, and journalist. Lees worked as a newspaper journalist in his native Canada before moving to the United States, where he was a music ...

) – 7:00 # "

Detour Ahead "Detour Ahead" is a jazz standard with words and music credited to Herb Ellis, Johnny Frigo, and Lou Carter. The song was written in 1948 while Carter, Ellis and Frigo were part of The Soft Winds, a group they created after leaving Jimmy Dorsey' ...

(Lou Carter,

Herb Ellis Mitchell Herbert Ellis (August 4, 1921 – March 28, 2010), known professionally as Herb Ellis, was an American jazz guitarist. During the 1950s, he was in a trio with pianist Oscar Peterson. Biography Born in Farmersville, Texas, and raised ...

Johnny Frigo Johnny Frigo (December 27, 1916 – July 4, 2007) was an American jazz violinist, bassist and songwriter. He appeared in the 1940s as a violinist before working as a bassist. He returned to the violin in the 1980s and enjoyed a comeback, recordin ...

) – 7:37 # "My Romance (song), My Romance" [Take 1] (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 7:13 # "On the Town (musical)#Musical numbers, Some Other Time" (Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green) – 5:11 # "Milestones (composition), Milestones" (Miles Davis) – 6:30

CD track listing

# " My Foolish Heart" 4:56 # " Waltz for Debby"

7:00 # " Waltz for Debby" [Take 1] 6:46 # "Detour Ahead"

7:37 # "Detour Ahead" [Take 1] 7:13 # "My Romance (song), My Romance" [Take 1] 7:12 # "My Romance (song), My Romance"

7:15 # "Some Other Time" 5:11 # "Milestones (composition), Milestones" 6:30 # "I Loves You Porgy, 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

– piano *

– Double bass, bass *

– Drum kit, drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waltz For Debby (1961 Album) 1962 live albums Albums produced by Orrin Keepnews Bill Evans live albums Riverside Records live albums Albums recorded at the Village Vanguard