Bill Evans Trio* – Bill Evans At Town Hall (Volume One)

Excellent reissue, dead quiet white noise. Mixed and cut as good as d.

Quality control leaves much to be desired, a seemingly good series is sliding into the abyss

Holy crap this sounds good. Punch and presence for sure, could have easily had me believing this was a 45 cut. Sounds great.

From '66, another homerun live performance from Bill Evans Trio. The ensemble playing is deeply engaged and locked into the groove.

The highlight here is the tender and wistful "Solo:..." piano tribute to his father, a Satie-esque tone poem worthy of his highest marks. Evans weaves in one of his most lovely melodies, "Turn Out The Stars". Bravo.

I was not prepared for the audio to be this amazing. The piano sounds like it is close-miked with excellent hammer attack and good string presence, yet very full body. The bass is beautifully captured. Drums are animated, yet recessed far in the mix at times. Stunning achievement from the recording crew. The soundstage here is engaging, a thrill to experience.

Extremely impressive example of what a great pressing is all about, heavy vinyl, pristine. The heavyweight cardboard sleeve with glossy overlay has been beautifully produced.

4.75 stars.

Musically stunning recording, very deep emotional content in the playing of all involved. Bill's piano sound on this is huge, deep and full. Man, it really sounds like they are locked in and listening to each other! Chuck Israels playing doesn't get enough accolades in my opinion. Listen to him on Don Friedman's Circle Waltz also w/Pete LaRoca on drums. Great bassist!

Does anyone have a bit of what sounds like tape dropout in Make People Happy. I've had two copies and both have it. It otherwise sounds great. Just don't know if I got into a bad run.

Some hear distortion, some don´t. Is there Any, due to the tape condition? Or are there definately pressing issues causing the distortion? I would be very thankful for some response.

EDIT: I changed my tracking force from 1,8 to 2,0 and the distortions are completly gone. Just to let you guys know. (Ortofon MC3 Turbo / Aikido 1+ / Technics SL 1200 GR)

Great music, but arrived with paper debris inside the sleeve and even after a cleaning a big skip on side 1. Disappointing.

I got lucky (so rare...) as my copy is flawless. Still, I have the impression that the tapes were in relatively medium condition (compared to some of the best sounding reissues of the Series) as the audible top-end is weak/limited. I can't decide whether it is due to the degradation of the tape, or due to a speed variation issue during recording, but I'm hearing a slight flutter/wow on several ages throughout the album, most significantly on track B2. I'm quite sure this is not an individual pressing issue. My TT (SME Model 15 w/ Series V tonearm w/ Benz Micro LP cartridge w/ Micro Ridge stylus) might be the reason why I'm hearing it more than others. I'm not complaining, the record is quite good overall, but not the most natural sounding piano recording. The remote recording (at Town Hall) might also explain why it is less impressive - for me - than my favourite (studio) piano recordings of the era.

Wow wow wow...nearly missed this, its gorgeous..so important, so special given the timing of it and the quality of the record nearly has me in tears! It's perfect. Can't wait for volume 2.. well done Verve!