''Conversations with Myself'' is a 1963 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 m ...
musician
Bill Evans.
History
Recording with
Glenn Gould
Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; September 25, 1932October 4, 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was one of the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, and was renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann ...
's piano, CD 318, at studio sessions on February 6 and 9, and May 20, 1963, Evans used the method of
overdubbing three different yet corresponding piano tracks for each song. The album features mostly
traditional pop
Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standard ...
standards. Alongside these are three compositions by
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...
, and one Evans original, "N.Y.C.'s No Lark", commemorating Evans' friend and fellow jazz pianist
Sonny Clark
Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark (July 21, 1931 – January 13, 1963) was an American jazz pianist and composer who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.
Early life
Clark was born and raised in Herminie, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town east of Pi ...
, who died one month before Evans began work on the album.
Evans followed ''Conversations with Myself'' with ''
Further Conversations with Myself'' (1967) and ''
New Conversations'' (1978), both recorded in a similar vein.
Critical reception
The album earned Evans his first
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
in 1964 for
Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group. It received a 5-star review in ''
DownBeat'' in 1963.
''All About Jazz'' review. Jason R. Laipply
Retrieved January 2009.
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 databa ...
, music critic Michael G. Nastos wrote: Certainly one of the more unusual items in the discography of an artist whose consistency is as evident as any in modern jazz, and nothing should dissuade you from purchasing this one of a kind album that in some ways set a technological standard for popular music – and jazz – to come.
Jason Laipply 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: he album
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
was an instant classic for the jazz community. Evans' work on the ten tunes included here is truly inspired and amazing to behold... this glimpse of the artist at a heightened level of expression is very rewarding indeed. However, for the casual fan, I would not suggest this disc. The musical vocabulary is complex enough that the simple beauty of the songs, and Evans’ playing, is at times lost.
Track listing
#" 'Round Midnight" (Monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
, Williams) – 6:35
#"How About You?
"How About You?" is a popular song composed by Burton Lane, with lyrics by Ralph Freed. (1941 in music) It was introduced in the 1941 film ''Babes on Broadway'' by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney.
The lyrics of the song are often changed dependi ...
" (Lane
In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each ...
, Ralph Freed
Ralph Freed (1 May 1907, Vancouver - February 13, 1973) was a Canadian born American lyricist and television producer.
Early Life
Born May 1, 1907 to Max Freed and Rosie (Rosza) Grossman who met in Charleston, SC. Ralph married Grace H. Berchma ...
) – 2:50
#"''Spartacus
Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprisin ...
'' Love Theme" (Alex North
Alex North (born Isadore Soifer, December 4, 1910 – September 8, 1991) was an American composer best known for his many film scores, including ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (one of the first jazz-based film scores), '' Viva Zapata!'', '' S ...
) – 5:10
#"Blue Monk
This is a list of compositions by jazz musician Thelonious Monk.
0-9 52nd Street Theme
A contrafact based loosely on rhythm changes in C, and was copyrighted by Monk under the title "Nameless" in April 1944. The tune was also called "Bip Bop" ...
" (Monk) – 4:32
#" Stella by Starlight" (Young
Young may refer to:
* Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents
* Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood
Music
* The Young, an American roc ...
, Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
) – 4:52
#"Hey There
"Hey There" is a show tune from the musical play ''The Pajama Game,'' written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. It was published in 1954. It was introduced by John Raitt in the original production.
In the show, Sid sings it to a recording dev ...
" (Richard Adler
Richard Adler (August 3, 1921 – June 21, 2012) was an American lyricist, writer, composer and producer of several Broadway shows.
Life and career
Adler was born in New York City, the son of Elsa Adrienne (née Richard) and Clarence Adler. His ...
, Ross) – 4:31
#"N.Y.C.'s No Lark" (Bill Evans) – 5:36
#"Just You, Just Me
"Just You, Just Me" is a song from the 1929 musical film ''Marianne'', composed by Jesse Greer with lyrics by Raymond Klages. It was introduced by Marion Davies and Lawrence Gray. The song has had many revisions after its first appearance and has b ...
" (Jesse Greer Jesse Greer (August 26, 1896 New York City – October 3, 1970 Columbia, Connecticut) was an American Broadway songwriter. His musical '' Shady Lady'' was staged in 1933 with additional music by Sam H. Stept. Greer composed " Just You, Just Me" for ...
, Raymond Klages) – 2:37
#"Bemsha Swing
This is a list of compositions by jazz musician Thelonious Monk.
0-9 52nd Street Theme
A contrafact based loosely on rhythm changes in C, and was copyrighted by Monk under the title "Nameless" in April 1944. The tune was also called "Bip Bop" ...
" (Denzil Best
Denzil DaCosta Best (April 27, 1917 – May 24, 1965) was an American jazz percussionist and composer born in New York City. He was a prominent bebop drummer in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Biography
Best was born in New York City, into a musi ...
, Monk) – 2:56
#"A Sleepin' Bee
"A Sleepin' Bee" is a popular song composed by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Arlen and Truman Capote. It was introduced in the musical '' House of Flowers'' (1954) and performed by Diahann Carroll. While ''House of Flowers'' was a flop, "A Sleepin' ...
" (Arlen Arlen may refer to:
* Arlen (given name), a list of people
* Arlen (surname), a list of people
* Arlen Realty and Development Corporation, an American real estate investment trust founded in 1959
* Arlen, Texas, a fictional town in the United S ...
, Capote) – 4:10
''Tracks 9 and 10 not part of original LP release. Track 7 recorded on February 6, 1963; tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 8-10 on February 9; tracks 3 and 4 recorded on May 20, 1963.''
Personnel
*Bill Evans - piano (multi-tracked)
* Creed Taylor - producer
References
External links
Jazz Discography entries for Bill Evans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conversations With Myself
1963 albums
Verve Records albums
Bill Evans albums
Albums produced by Creed Taylor
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album