''You Must Believe in Spring'' is an album by American

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

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 ...

, recorded by Evans, bassist

Eddie Gómez Edgar Gómez (born October 4, 1944) is a Puerto Rican jazz double bassist, known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio from 1966 to 1977. Biography Gómez moved with his family from Puerto Rico at a young age to New York, where he was raised. ...

, and drummer

Eliot Zigmund Eliot Zigmund (born April 14, 1945) is an American jazz drummer, who has worked extensively as a session musician. Biography Zigmund studied at Mannes School of Music and City College of New York, where he graduated in 1969. After moving to Cali ...

in August 1977, and released after Evans' death in September 1981.

Background

The album was Evans's last recording sessions done with Gomez on bass, who left after eleven years with Evans to pursue other musical projects. The same year, Evans also recorded the title song in duet with jazz vocalist

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

on their second album, '' Together Again''. The album's two originals by Evans are dedicated to his

common-law wife Common-law marriage, also known as non-ceremonial marriage, marriage, informal marriage, or marriage by habit and repute, is a legal framework where a couple may be considered married without having formally registered their relation as a civil ...

Ellaine Schultz and his brother Harry, both of whom had taken their own lives.Francis Davis, ''You Must Believe in Spring'', Rhino 8122-73719-2

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

p. 7. The album also features the

Johnny Mandel John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Benn ...

song "

Suicide Is Painless "Suicide Is Painless" (or "Song from M*A*S*H") is a song written by Johnny Mandel (music) and Michael Altman (lyrics) for the 1970 film ''M*A*S*H''. In addition to being performed by characters in the film, it plays during the title sequence as ...

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

reissued the album on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

in 2003 with three

bonus tracks An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

added, including a take on the only song from ''

Kind of Blue ''Kind of Blue'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded on March 2 and April 22, 1959, at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, and released on August 17 of that year by Co ...

'' that Evans did not play on, "

Freddie Freeloader "Freddie Freeloader" is a composition by Miles Davis and is the second track on his 1959 album ''Kind of Blue''. The piece takes the form of a twelve-bar blues in B, but the chord over the final two bars of each chorus is an A7, not the tradition ...

." The liner notes, by CD reissue producer Richard Siedel, indicate that Evans plays

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

on "

Without a Song "Without a Song" is a popular song composed by Vincent Youmans with lyrics later added by Billy Rose and Edward Eliscu, published in 1929. It was included in the musical play, ''Great Day''. The play only ran for 36 performances but contained two s ...

"; if so, it is not audible on the track. However, within the list of personnel on the CD reissue version, Evans is credited with Acoustic and Electric Piano only on "

". The rendition begins on acoustic piano and switches at 3:43 to a Fender Rhodes electric piano for most of the duration of the piece. After Zigmund's spirited drum solo at 6:52, Evans resumes playing acoustic piano through the finale.

Track listing

Personnel

–

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 keyboa ...

;

on "Freddie Freeloader" *

– bass *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Discography

References

External links

The Bill Evans Memorial LibraryJazz Discography Bill Evans Catalog
{{DEFAULTSORT:You Must Believe In Spring 1981 albums Bill Evans albums Albums produced by Tommy LiPuma Warner Records albums Albums recorded at Capitol Studios