How My Heart Sings

Recorded in May and June of 1962, at the same time as the Moonbeams sessions, How My Heart Sings shows a different side of the Bill Evans Trio than that all-ballads album. Here, the eight selections have a much more mid- and even up-tempo flair. Israel appears more comfortable in these settings to be sure, as he is the kind of bassist that relegates himself deeply into the rhythm section, sublimating himself to the pianist. In Evans' own words, the band's desire was to "provide a more singing sound" in this material. The set begins with a lyrical waltz in the title track. Evans himself comments in the liner notes that it "contains a delightful 4/4 interlude framed by a delightful 3/4 lyric line." Nowhere does he discuss his solo that literally ripples in delicate waves off the middle register, and Motian's stick work shimmies up the rhythm and allows it to truly dance and sing. There are a number of standards here, including "Summertime," which sounds so different with its mid-tempo opening and Israel's flaunting bass vamp in front of the piano. When Evans gets to the melody he is following the swinging skip of Motian's drums, and he digs deep into inverting the melody line with a slew of arpeggios and short, choppy phrases. On Cole Porter's "Everything I Love," Evans takes the snap in the tune and breaks it, committing it to a driving swing and vaunting lyrical gem that has three seemingly unresolvable harmonic problems in the center that turn out to be a Moebius strip in Evan's chromatic language. This is a tough recording; it flies in the face of the conventions Evans himself has set, and yet retrains the deep, nearly profound lyricism that was the pianist's trademark. [The 1992 OJC CD adds an alternate take of "In Your Own Sweet Way" as a bonus track.] Thom Jurek.