BILL EVANS 'MONTREAUX II' VERY RARE LAMINATED GATEFOLD W/ WHITE LABEL DJ PROMO
Montreux II Review  

by Ken Dryden

All Music.com

Bill Evans' second recording at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1970 was a highly anticipated concert, finding the pianist in peak form, accompanied by bassist  and drummer . His originals include the rhapsodic "Very Early," the turbulent "34 Skidoo," and an aggressive rendition of "Peri's Scope." His introspective take of 's "Alfie" is played at a leisurely tempo, while his take of ' "How My Heart Sings" simmers slowly to a boil. His driving setting of 's "Israel" has an intense  solo and a lively exchange with  as its centerpiece. While this is a terrific live performance, there are sound problems, including what sounds like bleeding of the stage monitors into the mix, and there are muddy spots in the recording as well, particularly during some of 's solos. Master engineer  tackled the remastering of this CTI LP, but there was only so much he could do with what was preserved on the original tape.

User Reviews for Montreux II                  Most Popular                 Newest First               

November 11, 2017

 

Share review

  I'm listening to the LP now, and I think the sound is pretty good. I don't know about the monitors bleeding into the mike, etc. It seems like the drums and bass were a little over-miked and the mic placement on the piano wasn't optimal... the middle does get cloudy, especially in Bill's characteristically dense chords, but even in a highly controlled studio setting his voicings can be so dense you can't separate the notes... overall this recording has a wonderful "you are there" outdoor presence, and you can hear that. Bill is indeed in peak form, and Eddie Gomez is on fire. I give it five... On second thought, yeah I do think it must be the monitors that are muddying the sound a bit. But I wouldn't let that deter anyone from listening to this wonderful performance. I'm enjoying it immensely.  

Jonathan Guarriello

May 22, 2016

  This is a rare live album by the Bill Evans trio with Eddie Gomez on bass & Marty Morell on drums. Recorded in 1970 two years after Bill's Grammy winning At The Montreux Jazz Festival which featured the short lived trio of Bill and Eddie with Jack DeJohnette on drums. If you liked the first album at the Montreux Festival you'll probably like this. It's a notable live release for completist fans of Evans because it contains one of the only known live versions of Bill's early tune from his 1959 album Portrait in Jazz Peri's Scope. Another stand out is the John Carisi tune "Israel" another tune hardly caught on other live albums by Evans. This probably isn't an album that casual fans of Evans would want.
 – Montreux II Label: – CTI 6004Format: , LP, Album, Stereo, Laminated Gatefold Country:Released:Genre:Style: Tracklist Hide Credits A1Very Early Written-By –  Written-By –  5:10A2Alfie Written-By – * Written-By – * 5:05A334 Skidoo Written-By –  Written-By –  5:20B1How My Heart Sings Written-By – * Written-By – * 3:55B2Israel Written-By –  Written-By –  4:08B3I Hear A Rhapsody Written-By – *, *, *, * Written-By – *, *, *, * 5:30B4Peri's Scope Written-By –  Written-By –  5:30 Companies, etc. Recorded At –  Credits Bass –  Design –  Drums – * Engineer –  Liner Notes –  Photography By –  Piano –  Producer –  Recorded By [Re-recording], Lacquer Cut By –  Notes Gatefold cover with fully laminated front and back. Regular, beige/brown CTI labels. THIS COPY FOR SALE BY PRIVATECOL48 CONTAINS AN ORIGINAL, WHITE LABEL DJ/RADIO PROMO COPY. Upon close inspection, it is visible that the matrix/runout etchings on the B-side were initially etched incorrectly and then corrected: what was etched as 87655 has visibly been corrected to 87657. 
Recorded at the Casino De Montreux, Switzerland, on June 19th, 1970.

The VAN GELDER stamp in the matrix/runout details points to  as the engineer that cut the lacquer. Barcode and Other Identifiers Rights Society: ASCAP Rights Society: BMI Matrix / Runout (Side 1 (hand etched / stamped): RVG · 87657 · A-1 VAN GELDER Matrix / Runout (Side 2 (hand etched / stamped): RVG · 87657 - B-1 X VAN GELDER