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Los Angeles, CA — Craft Recordings is proud to reissue You Must Believe in Spring, the celebrated 70th studio album from the pioneering jazz pianist Bill Evans. Recorded in 1977 and released in 1981, just months after Evans’ death, the album marks the artist’s final studio recording with bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Eliot Zigmund and includes stunning performances of “We Will Meet Again (for Harry)” and “B Minor Waltz (for Ellaine).”
One of the most influential artists in the history of jazz, Bill Evans (1929–1980) was known for his conversational interplay within his trios, his lyrical compositions and his matchless approach to the piano. His work with Gomez and Zigmund on You Must Believe in Spring offers a brilliant example of all three. At the time that they recorded the album, in August 1977, this particular iteration of the Bill Evans Trio had reached their apex, after three busy years of live performances and studio outings (including 1977’s Crosscurrents and I Will Say Goodbye). Speaking to Marc Myers, Zigmund recalls, “We had reached a high level of conversational playing … By Spring, we captured that ease of relating to each other.”
While You Must Believe in Spring was a triumphant outing for Evans, it also marked the end of an era. Just one month after the sessions wrapped, Gomez departed the trio, following an incredible 11-year run with the pianist. Zigmund, who first joined Evans and Gomez in 1974, left later that year to focus on his young family. But the story doesn’t end there. During the summer of 1980, when Evans was performing a concert with his new (and final) trio, Gomez and Zigmund reunited with the artist.
Evans passed away that September, five months before You Must Believe in Spring was released. While the pianist wasn’t able to experience the album’s warm reception, there was no question that he was proud of the recording. “For Evans, perfection was an allusive target and a career-long obsession,” writes Myers. “You Must Believe in Spring is a studio album [that] Evans felt hit the mark.”
Tracklist
Vinyl Tracklist
Side One
- B Minor Waltz (For Ellaine)
- You Must Believe In Spring
Side Two
- Gary’s Theme
- We Will Meet Again (For Harry)
Side Three
- The Peacocks
- Sometime Ago
Side Four
- Theme from M*A*S*H (aka Suicide Is Painless)
CD Tracklist
- B Minor Waltz (For Ellaine)
- You Must Believe In Spring
- Gary’s Theme
- We Will Meet Again (For Harry)
- The Peacocks
- Sometime Ago
- Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)
- Without A Song (Bonus)
- Freddie Freeloader (Bonus)
- All Of You (Bonus)
Soundwave
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTlKzkdtW9I