Paul Warburton on Working with Bill Evans

[Bob Branstetter]

I received a phone call today from my old friend Paul Warburton. He said that several people had asked him to write about his experiece in working with the late Bill Evans and his trio. He asked me to post a series of email messages that he sent to me starting in late 2001 after I had asked him to tell me about his experience with Bill Evans. The posts are unedited except for the removal of some personal stuff. I think you will all find it of interest.

***************

Sept 27, 2001

Yea, I thought you knew--I worked with Bill & Philly Joe for about a month in 1964. Did'nt record. Your friend probably read an article in Bass Player magazine-October '96.
It was the best thing I ever did--I was 23--I'll tell you about it some time


Sept 28, 2001

I'll give you the details in chapters-I don't talk about this much-it's kind of sacred to me, but you guys have always shown such an interest in my work, I guess you deserve to be bored to death.
I got the call from Bill on a gig I was doing down in Colorado Springs with Don Grusin. My wife at the time called me on a break to tell me Bill had called from San Francisco to hire me on Pat Morans recomendation. Pat was a great lady pianist who I played with alot, including some dates with Buddy Defranco. Scott LaFaro made his first record with Pat when he was living in LA--Anyway, I thought the call was a put-on. To get a call in those days from Bill Evans was like winning the Power-Ball Lottery--------To be continued


Oct 14, 2001
I lost the first installment of this, so i'm not sure where I left off. Anyway, my wife caught me on a break on the gig I was on in Colorado Springs and told me to expect a call from Bill Evans on my next break. I told her it was probably Pat Moran and some friends of mine on the west coast just putting me on.
Sure enough, an hour later i get the call-"This is Bill Evans" I say " Bull **** and i'm Jesus Christ" " No really it's Bill Evans the piano player. Can you come out to San Francisco and play with me and Philly Joe Jones at The Jazz Workshop for a month?
I still don't believe him so he puts his wife Elaine on the phone.(the one who later commited suicide in NY by throwing herself under a subway train.) I say"You send me a plane ticket for me & the bass and your'e on. I did'nt even get nervous or excited because I was so sure it was a joke.
The next day I get a call from United Airlines.......

[Bob Branstetter]

Aug 18, 2003

So...The tickets show up and I become a nervous wreck! I even considered
calling and saying I just wasn't ready for something like that. He must have
respected Pat Moran so much to hire someone on her word alone. He didn't
even ask for a tape. This was the period when he had just released
Moonbeams, Trio 64, etc. I got the records and sheded as much as I could. It
would be a lot easier nowdays with CDs being in tune. I just had to tune my
bass to the records. I was playing my Hornsteiner (Jacobus) It was a great
sounding bass, so I wasn't worried about that. I had just had it repaired
after it was in a fire at a club in Minneapolis where I had been working
with Pat and Buddy DeFranco. I had left it in the club that night and some
guys broke in and tried to open the safe with some kind of welders torch and
the whole place went up! I really went through alot of changes over that. I
had an English guy, Chris Mayne, do the work. He had to put a different top
on, and new treble side ribs. It sounded BETTER after that! It later was
destroyed in a club when some drunk fell on it and put the bridge foot
through the top and including the bass bar. It was at this time that Barb
and I found the Bohmann in Chicago (1978?)
I think I had about a week to get my **** together. Somebody called the
Denver Post and told them I was going, so now everybody in town knows, so I
can't back out now.
What had made this all possible, is that the trio with Chuck and Larry
Bunker were working at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco. Bill and his wife
Elaine had over-dosed on sleeping pills and ended up in the hospital. Bill
told me this in a matter of factly kind of way, with no attempt to cover
anything up or soften it. He always talked about his drug use that way..One
night I was standing out in front of the club and he comes up and says " We
just did a big load of LSD so try to help me through the sets! Right! Me
helping Bill Evans through the Night!!! His drug use never affected his
work!
But the bottom line is that Chuck and Larry are apparently pretty fed up and
split. I'm assuming this is what happened to leave the bass chair open for
me. I never really knew. I've always wanted to ask Chuck about it, maybe
someday. It all happened at a strange time, because I've never gotten much
credit for it. That Biography by the English guy goes right through that
period. Remember that tune Bill Wrote Commrade Conrad? Conrad was a pro
photographer and did two nights of filming the trio with sound. I spent some
time trying to track him down...no luck.

Anyway, A bass player friend of mine takes me to the airport.
I need a break...Next chapter tomorrow.

Aug 20, 2003

Anyway, the flight was unremarkable except for my shaking body, making the
flight uncomfortable for everyone else.
Bill had bought a ticket for the bass so I didn't have to wait around for a
trunk. And there he was in all his splendor. Hair all slicked back just like
his pictures. Big spaces between his yellowed teeth. This was before that
dentist in London fixed all his teeth. We shook hands, and I'll be damned,
his skin felt just like a normal person. My shaking leveled out and just
about stopped...he was so nice. He said "I'm really looking forward to
playing with you" He said " Would you like to play with Philly Joe Jones?
The drummer that was supposed to make the gig got hung up but Joe was able
to get free" I said " I dunno, couldn't you get someone a little stronger?"
Back came the shaking.

Aug 28, 2003

Anyway, we headed out to our ride, Conrad Mendenhall, ie. "Comrade Conrad"
This was the photographer friend of Bills who Bill wrote that tune for. I
didn't know that at the time. Conrad, later on during this period, did a
movie of the trio at the Jazz Workshop. I've heard that this movie is out
there, but I don't know where or how to find it. Bills wife Elaine was also
waiting in the car and off we went over the Bay Bridge into the city.
We stopped and had a cappucino (my first). Next, they dropped me off across
the street of my hotel. I stood there with my bass & waited for a break in
the traffic to cross. All my new friends were yelling at me to "GO"....my
first experience with California traffic laws giving the pedestrian the
right away crossing streets. I felt like a fool. The room that Bill rented
for me was the room that Lennie Bruce fell out of a few weeks earlier. After
checking in and getting my stuff in the room, Bill called to tell me he and
I would get together the next day to "play a little"
The hotel was right across from the club, so that being a Monday night, I
walked around North Beach checking out the Monday night bands. I heard Cal
Tjader at the El Matador, not knowing that a few years later I would be
working and recording with him ...Latin + Jazz = Cal Tjader. I introduced
myself to all the musicians I met. As you can imagine, it was pretty
thrilling to introduce myself as Bills bass player...WOW!
The next day they picked me up to go play. We sat down and played one tune
and Bill said "Perfect. I just wanted to make sure we had the right feel".
That was the rehearsal!
To be continued....I gonna quit dragging this out so much. I'll hurry
through the next parts a little faster.

Sept 6, 2003


Anyway, opening night...To start things off with a bang, Don Thompson and
Terry Clarke are in the audience! They were just closing their dates across
the street with that famous John Handy band. Don told me many years later
that my playing had a big influence on him!!! Anyway, Bill introduces me to
Joe and off we go..I was very nervous, but it felt so GOD DAMN good, I
immediately relaxed. You know how Bill use to sit with his face practically
on the keyboard and that BIG left ear in my bass' right F hole!!! The first
thing that got me was his sound...I always thought of that sound as being a
bit on the soft, introverted side...It was very, very powerful! Between he
and Joe, I almost **** my pants. Sorry about the colorful language, but even
those don't do it justice. Of course the ghosts of Scotty and in this case
with Joe on board, Paul Chambers were dancing in my head.
I'll finish this up on the next outing...Hang in. Hi to Marsha!



Sept 8, 2003

Anyway...This was the period when the recorded stuff of Bills were the three records Trios 64 & 65 and Moonbeams...so a lot of what we were playing was material from those records....Elsa, How My Heart sings, Come Rain or Shine,
If You Could See Me Now, Who Can I Turn To?, You probably know that period. There were many highlights throughout these nights...Of course my highlights were the times that I'd play something decent and Bill would say "Yeah, Paul"! The first time I heard it, I thought he wasn't really saying it...you
know, I thought he was saying something else. Joe would not always show up because he would only work gigs with the
understanding that if he found some good **** he would just go do that....so Bill had hired a local drummer named Tom Reynolds to be Joe's "Under-study" We would only know at gig time who would be playing.
One night I heard a woman yell " That's my bass player, that's my bass player " It was Anita O'day. I had just finished working with her at the Band Box in Denver.
We played the Work Shop for about three weeks took off a week and did a week at a club in Sausalito.... the Trident, where Denny Zeitlin..remember him?
He was a Shrink. Charlie Haden and this drummer from Boulder whose name I can't remember worked there a lot.

Well that's about it....This to me was one chance in a million. Another highlight of my bass playing life was when I was working in Aspen and Stuart Sankey, who use to come and hear me play, offered me free lessons with the warning that it might slow me down....What a comliment coming from rguably
the greatest bass teacher who ever lived! Gary Karr, Edgar Myer, John Deak, etc. By slow me down, he meant instead of being natural, I might stop and think too much about what I was doing.. so I passed.
If I had moved to New York, things might have been different, but I have no regrets.

****************

[Bob Branstetter]

Bill Evans trio with Paul Warburton

[Ed Fuqua]

Just beautiful....

[Paul Warburton]

Thanks Ed. Thank you to my great friend BB.
As I told Bob, I didn't wanna post this myself all these years because it's been so special to me and I didn't want anyone to think I was on a big ego trip about it. It sure wasn't about that. This gig, as you can imagine, changed me and my playing forever.
Bob's fixing the multable post problem.....so, for you guys who have been rattling my cage about doing this, here it is for what it's worth.......
By the way, the drummers name at the Trident with Denny and Charlie was Jerry Granelli.

[Uncletoad]

I've been waiting for that story for quite awhile.

Thanks Paul. Thanks Bob.

[Damon Rondeau]

Awesome. Thank you!

[musicman5string]

Great story. Thanks guys.

One question for Paul: were you taking the "conversational" approach with the trio, ala Scotty, or laying it down more like P.C.? Or did that change from tune to tune?

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by musicman5string

Great story. Thanks guys.

One question for Paul: were you taking the "conversational" approach with the trio, ala Scotty, or laying it down more like P.C.? Or did that change from tune to tune?

I usually would play pretty " free " the first couple chorus', then tighten it down. Kinda typical ala Chuck.

[damonsmith]

Great thread, thanks for giving it a bump.

[Kam]

Wow, that is one compelling narrative.

[Nuno A.]

Thank you so much, great reading!

Nuno

[basstef]

Thanks Paul, what a great experience and story! Bill Evans ... wow !!!
We all would be glad to share any other memories on this . Again, thanks!

[oliebrice]

thanks paul and bob!

[anonymous8547j7d7b]

Thanks for sharing, Paul. Beautiful.

I didn't wanna post this myself all these years because it's been so special to me and I didn't want anyone to think I was on a big ego trip about it. It sure wasn't about that

If only everyone in the music world had this attitude. How much better would life be. You're a real inspiration, Paul, and living proof of the Taoist maxim "those who know, don't speak:those who speak, don't know..." Thanks again for being persuaded to speak.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Great story, Paul. It must have been a shock to experience the way these guys were living at the time, even as you were having your ears opened up by the way they were playing. Thanks for sharing the story.

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by Chris Fitzgerald

Great story, Paul. It must have been a shock to experience the way these guys were living at the time, even as you were having your ears opened up by the way they were playing. Thanks for sharing the story.

Right Durrl....some times I felt like their lawyer....Bill was such a brilliant person it took the edge off I guess.

[T-Bal]

Great reading, Paul - thanks to you and Bob for sharing. Someone needs to track down that video!

[Marcus Johnson]

Paul, I have that "piano jazz" recording on CD with Marian.... the one that goes into rhythmic displacement, playing over the bar lines, etc. I was struck by Bill's humility, good humor, and overall sweet nature. Maybe he had a dark side, but judging by that particular recording, he sure seemed like someone worth knowing. Cool that you were part of it.... thanks for sharing that.

[bassist14]

Thank you Paul!