The Bill Evans Trio - Quiet Now (1994)

An aptly titled album from the Bill Evans Trio, Quiet Now is the jazz pianist at his most ambient and cerebral. Accompanied only by the minimalist rhythm section of bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty Morell, Evans effortlessly deconstructs two pop standards, Harold Arlen's "Sleeping Bee" and his beloved "Autumn Leaves," a Johnny Mercer tune that he played seemingly hundreds of times, along with three of his own compositions and Miles Davis' "Nardis," a song Evans made his own through endless reintepretation over the course of many years. Morrel is a steady, unobtrusive drummer with a light touch and, happily, not much of a tendency to show off and even less to solo. Gomez, the bassist Evans worked with the longest in his career, knows how to anticipate his boss' every move, no matter how seemingly random, and his solo spots are those rarities, economical and well-constructed bass solos that are actually fun to listen to. Quiet Now is a bit too workmanlike to be one of the greatest Bill Evans Trio releases -- it's more solidly competent than divinely inspired, but Evans' playing, as always, is marvelous.