Bill Evans You Tube - Who's on bass

jallenbass · #1 07-28-2006, 10:09 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE7QBCHLLg0&NR

Some are speculating that it's NHOP or Scott. Definitely not Scott and doesn't look like NHOP to me

Mark Carlsen · #2 07-28-2006, 11:30 PM

I"ve been blown away w. this for a month or so.
That is NHOP without the beard and Boston's own Alan Dawson on drums.
Alittle history here...Notice on the bass solo Niels doesn't have his 3 finger right hand technique at this time.He said in a Bass Player article some years ago he first saw another player[ Cecil McBee] using 3 fingers w. Charles Lloyd's group in 1966.
This is from 65, so he is just using one finger on the right hand.The left however is all there.Also Niels may be using guts ,although it is tough to tell.Definately no amp,Just Mic.
I knew the drummer was Alan because I have a rare record with one cut of this 1965 European trio of Bill Evans playing 'How deep is the Ocean' w. Lee Konitz.

This video is very rare..

Jeff Guevin · #3 07-28-2006, 11:32 PM

It looks like NHOP to me. Nice video!

Paul Warburton · #4 07-29-2006, 05:46 AM

To my knowledge, Nils never used guts.
I love watching Bills face when he plays! His teeth were in horrid condition at this point. He had them fixed a little later in England. Thank God. His hands were really swollen at this point as well. When I worked my Month with he and Joe, the bass was right up in his face on his immediate left. I about s*** my pants every night knowing he was hearing every little thing I did! I often wondered how he played at all with those water swollen hands....they looked like they were going to just burst. As i've said before, one night after my solo he said: " Yeah Paul!" I'll hold that in my heart forever.
One thing I noticed right away, was that after Bill played the head, Nils went right into 4! Scott probably would have never gone into 4!
Thanks for the link jallen!

jazzbass72 · #5 07-30-2006, 11:16 PM

Wow,
this 1972 video with a young Eddie Gomez is great too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHXcjQnjLbY

Brent Nussey · #6 07-31-2006, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazzbass72

Wow,
this 1972 video with a young Eddie Gomez is great too!

Well, not really a "young" Eddie Gomez. They'd been playing 6 years together already. To hear a young Eddie Gomez, click on the "Bill Evans Trio - If You Could See Me Now 1966" video. That's Eddie in 1966 in Europe. I have this on DVD and Eddie tears it up. Gut strings, really digging in, and lots of shots of his hands etc. Also, on one tune he does the little trick of playing in unison with himself on adjacent strings. I thought Ron Carter came up with that in the 70's, but here's Eddie doing it years earlier...

Brent

Paul Warburton · #7 07-31-2006, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent Nussey

Well, not really a "young" Eddie Gomez. They'd been playing 6 years together already. To hear a young Eddie Gomez, click on the "Bill Evans Trio - If You Could See Me Now 1966" video. That's Eddie in 1966 in Europe. I have this on DVD and Eddie tears it up. Gut strings, really digging in, and lots of shots of his hands etc. Also, on one tune he does the little trick of playing in unison with himself on adjacent strings. I thought Ron Carter came up with that in the 70's, but here's Eddie doing it years earlier...

Brent

Brent, when they came through Denver about this time, and played at the Senate Lounge, Bill asked me to play.....Unfortunately, for me, they were nylons. They felt like rubber bands. Eddie was playing that good old Morrelli.
Brent, by "playing in unison with himself", do you mean octaves? As long as he wasn't playing with himself in unison....

Brent Nussey · #8 08-01-2006, 11:09 AM

What I mean is playing a note on the G string with your thumb, and then playing *the same note* on the D string with your 3rd finger. It makes a kind of cool sound, and the first I ever heard it was on Ron Carter's Piccolo album from 1976. But I was shocked to see Eddie do it on this video, especially since I'd never heard him do it anywhere else. Though I'll admit to not being an aficionado of his playing, so there maybe other examples.

I'd like to hear more about these nylon strings. I wonder if these are the strings he uses on the 68 Montreux Jazz Fest record. I always wondered about that sound, it's a good sound, but not really either a metal or gut sound. Were guys using these because they were more consistent? Cheaper? More durable? What?

Brent

Paul Warburton · #9 08-01-2006, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent Nussey

I'd like to hear more about these nylon strings. I wonder if these are the strings he uses on the 68 Montreux Jazz Fest record. I always wondered about that sound, it's a good sound, but not really either a metal or gut sound. Were guys using these because they were more consistent? Cheaper? More durable? What?
Brent

IMO, they would use nylon for a purely speed issue...of course some basses welcome certain strings for a myriad of reasons. I didn't like them because, at least on Eddie's Morelli, they felt real fat. I don't know if they came in different gauges like guts...but Eddies just felt fat and unresponsive...to me...but of course not to Eddie. He was playing a whole bunch of cool harmonics and I couldn't even find the standard G harmonic on the G string.

You know, now that I think about it, they might have been nylon wound on gut, because they had ribbing on them, which I found disturbing when i'd try to slide a note. This, of course, was before amps too.

Mark Carlsen · #10 08-01-2006, 09:56 PM

Man Paul ,you had the good fortune to live and experience that era.Why not E-mail Eddie and find out what his set up was in those days?
I have seen some of those video's and heard alot of his recordings[Califorinia here I come,A matter of simple....Etc] and he is very close to Scott not only in solo concept and time,but Sound...knowing what tyoe of Strings would be helpfull.

Paul Warburton · #11 08-02-2006, 04:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Carlsen

Man Paul ,you had the good fortune to live and experience that era.Why not E-mail Eddie and find out what his set up was in those days?
I have seen some of those video's and heard alot of his recordings[Califorinia here I come,A matter of simple....Etc] and he is very close to Scott not only in solo concept and time,but Sound...knowing what tyoe of Strings would be helpfull.

Mark, to be PW blunt, I really don't care....I love Eddie, but i'm not really a Gomez fan. Too many notes and too much 'Gomezing' I'm a Scotty fan, for sure, but I don't hear the similarity that you do between Ed and Scott.

Mark Carlsen · #12 08-02-2006, 07:58 AM

I guess that recording "California Here I Come' in particular that when I first heard it on the radio [Bought the 2-fer album later] that I could swear it was new Scotty stuff.
This is the live recording from the Vangaurd in 67 w.Philly Joe on drums.Eddie is using Guts or as you mentioned Nylons.It's the sound Eddie gets that is so simular...Later on of course when pickups started being used it all changed.

Paul Warburton · #13 08-02-2006, 08:12 AM

I suppose the big thing that bothers me about Eddie is that left hand ....I suppose most people would think of it as vibrato...it's when he hits a note and then slides around the targeted note. I must say, and only IMO, that this is a trick many jazz bassists use to help disguise an intonation problem. I've never heard Scott do anything like that.

flatback · #14 08-02-2006, 11:25 AM

well I got into bass listening the the various Bill Evans Trios (particularly with scott). My father had a huge LP collection of his work and was (is) a big fan. To see video is just great but also a little bizarre. My whole experience of this music (BE) has been aural so to see the cats play, is marvelous. Previously I'd seen the Jazz Workshop video with Marc but never this early stuff.
Are full videos available anywhere?

Mark Carlsen · #15 08-13-2006, 08:38 PM

Hey Paul, Have you heard that Vangaurd session from 67 ?
Like to get your take on this one....

Paul Warburton · #16 08-14-2006, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Carlsen

Hey Paul, Have you heard that Vangaurd session from 67 ?
Like to get your take on this one....

Mark, I think the Vangaurd sessions are some of the most pure, and brilliant recordings in musical history. Bill, Scott, and Paul single-handedly changed the jazz rhythm section in a single stroke......these sets are at the top of my deserted island collection.

Mark Carlsen · #17 08-14-2006, 07:32 AM

Paul,
I must clarify... I know you have heard the 61 Vangaurd sessions, I am talking about the 67 Vangaurd w.Eddie and Philly Joe.

Paul Warburton · #18 08-14-2006, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Carlsen

Paul,
I must clarify... I know you have heard the 61 Vangaurd sessions, I am talking about the 67 Vangaurd w.Eddie and Philly Joe.

Mark, sorry. I didn't even notice the dates on your post. No, I haven't heard the 67 one. The only outing that I'm familiar with, besides the 61 ones, at the V.V., is the one with Joe and Mike Moore.

Mark Carlsen · #19 08-14-2006, 07:51 AM

I think you would be surprised at some of this trio's playing.It is now out on CD and is titled as I mentioned earlier on this thread " Califorinia Here I Come." I believe its on the Verve label.Bill is more swinging than usual maybe because of Philly on drums and the choice of tunes.