Chris, with the LaFaro/Motion trio, Bill Evans was pursuing a style of simultaneous improvisation in a trio setting that went beyond what other musicians had done up to that point. The June 1961 Village Vanguard recording captured a group that had achieved a certain empathy and ability to anticipate where the other musicians were heading in a manner that bordered on the supernatural/telepathic. If you listen to the simultaneously improvised lines in many of these recordings, you will hear a freedom of expression that goes well beyond the typical style of jazz that came before it where you typically have a lead soloist improvising while the other musicians lay back and play fairly predictable lines. Ensemble playing previously tended to be programmed and rehearsed.
This 1961 trio with LaFaro and Motion was IMO successful in achieving Evans's goal, and the trio had just reached its peak when the Village Vanguard performances were recorded. Tragically, the bass player, Scott LaFaro, died in an automobile accident only ten days after the June 1961 performance.
The death of LaFaro cast Bill Evans into a deep depression. Subsequently, his music took on a more dark, introspective quality, and, while his music continued to be great, he never achieved this level of empathy with any other trio until the very end of his life when I believe he came very close with the Marc Johnson (bass) and Joe LaBarbera (drums) trio. Perhaps not coincidentally, there was a second seminal set of recordings that were made at the Village Vanguard in June 1980, less than six months before Bill Evans passed away.
This 1961 trio with LaFaro and Motion was IMO successful in achieving Evans's goal, and the trio had just reached its peak when the Village Vanguard performances were recorded. Tragically, the bass player, Scott LaFaro, died in an automobile accident only ten days after the June 1961 performance.
The death of LaFaro cast Bill Evans into a deep depression. Subsequently, his music took on a more dark, introspective quality, and, while his music continued to be great, he never achieved this level of empathy with any other trio until the very end of his life when I believe he came very close with the Marc Johnson (bass) and Joe LaBarbera (drums) trio. Perhaps not coincidentally, there was a second seminal set of recordings that were made at the Village Vanguard in June 1980, less than six months before Bill Evans passed away.