Jean-Yves Thibaudet - Conversations With Bill Evans (1/3)

Song For Helen 0:00
Waltz For Debby 4:17
Turn Out The Stars 6:18
Noelle's Theme 11:38
Reflections In D 17:00
Here's That Rainy Day 24:25
Hullo, Bolinas 30:40
Love Theme From 'Spartacus' 34:56
Since We Met 38:33
Peace Piece 43:28
Your Story 51:03
Lucky To Be Me 56:42
NYC, July 26-29, 1996
The genesis of the present disc began when executive producer Eric Calvin heard a concert pianist friend play through an Evans transcription, and was struck by how the music seemed to fuse jazz and classical elements in a natural, organic way. Calvin suggested the idea of classical pianist recording an all-Evans program to Chris Roberts, president of PolyGram Classics and Jazz. Roberts in turn contacted the pianist he considered perfect for the project, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who, as a longtime jazz aficionado and Evans fan, was intrigued by the prospect.
'I got hold of the Turn out the stars transcription', the pianist recalled, 'and started including it in my recitals as an encore. It never failed to go over well with the audience. One of Bill's old music professors came to see me backstage in Louisiana and was thrilled that his former pupil's music was being played by a classical pianist. After all, the music is so wonderful, and what better way to expose classical audience to the riches of jazz.'
'At first I approached the notes literally, as if I was reading a piece of classical music, and played exactly what was on the page. I realized very quickly, however, that with this style you don't have to be bound to the notes. Even though Bill clearly worked out his harmonizations and certain things in the arrangements, he always played differently, as I try to do. They're not like classical compositions where very note, phrase and dynamic is set in score. I'm playing the notes Bill played but I channel them through my own feelings about dynamics and embellishments. Of course I listened to Bill's recordings at first, but less and less as I began to live with the music, and eventually not at all. The main challenge for me, in retrospect, was that of assimilating jazz rhythm. Rhythm in jazz is quite different from classical music, and functions like a heartbeat. Much of the time the rhythm is implied rather than stated, and you can't lose the pulse for a split-second.'
'Usually when I finish recording, I hear it and I know it's me. I hear for a fact that I played bar number thirty this way, or that I made a crescendo here and not there, and so forth. Yet I've listened to this recording many times, and it almost feels as if I'm not playing. When I play Bill Evans, I feel free to explore a range of my own feelings in a way that's hard to explain, but in ways I've never felt playing other music.'
• Solo Piano