NEW LP
New sealed copy. 2025 Riverside Records Original Jazz Classics Series reissue. Lacquer cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearant Audio. Pressed by Record Technology Incorporated in California on 180 gram audiophile quality vinyl.
Bill Evans' Moon Beams was released in 1962 and marked his first trio album following the death of bassist Scott LaFaro. Recorded during sessions in May and June 1962 with Chuck Israels on bass replacing LaFaro and Paul Motian on drums, the album was deliberately sequenced by producer Orrin Keepnews to feature ballads, while more up-tempo material from the same sessions appeared on How My Heart Sings!, released in 1964.
The album introduces two important Evans originals: "Re: Person I Knew," an anagram of Keepnews' name, and "Very Early," which Evans composed as an undergraduate. These bookend a collection of standards from the 1930s and 1940s. A 2012 Riverside reissue included three previously unreleased alternative takes, and the album was also released combined with How My Heart Sings! as the double album The Second Trio.
Critics praised the album's introspective playing and sequencing. AllMusic called it "a startling return to the recording sphere and a major advancement in Evans's development as a leader," while Peter Pettinger described it as containing "some of the group's most introspective playing" with each ballad "the equivalent of a classical masterpiece." Israels' more traditional bass style gave the trio a tight, disciplined character distinct from Evans' work with LaFaro.
TRACKLIST:
A1 Re: Person I Knew
A2 Polka Dots And Moonbeams
A3 I Fall In Love Too Easily
A4 Stairway To The Stars
B1 If You Could See Me Now
B2 It Might As Well Be Spring
B3 In Love In Vain
B4 Very Early
