| Know What I Mean? | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October/November 1962 [1] | |||
| Recorded | January 27, February 21, March 13, 1961 | |||
| Studio | Bell Sound (New York City) | |||
| Genre | Soul jazz Hard bop | |||
| Length | 53:00 | |||
| Label | Riverside RLP-433 | |||
| Producer | Orrin Keepnews | |||
| Cannonball Adderley chronology | ||||
| ||||
Know What I Mean? is a 1962 jazz album by alto saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, accompanied by Bill Evans and the rhythm section of the Modern Jazz Quartet. It was released on the Riverside label as RLP-433.
Adderley and Evans had recorded previously both with the Miles Davis Sextet—most notably on Kind of Blue —and on two of Adderley's earlier recordings as a leader, Portrait of Cannonball and Jump for Joy . Adderley had previously recorded several times with bassist Percy Heath but not with drummer Connie Kay. [2] Evans had recorded previously with both rhythm players several times, including on John Lewis's film soundtrack for Odds Against Tomorrow . [3]
Know What I Mean? was recorded in three sessions, both immediately preceding and following the recording of Evans's trio album Explorations . The two albums share recordings of one piece, the ballad-waltz "Elsa" by Evans's friend Earl Zindars. This album also includes several notable jazz standards, a short interpretation of Lewis's piece "Venice" from the soundtrack to the film No Sun in Venice , the second recording ever made of what would become Evans's most famous composition, "Waltz for Debby," and a new Evans original, the title track, which producer Orrin Keepnews "christened ... after one of Adderley's conversational signatures." [4]
Evans biographer Peter Pettinger notes that Adderley "wanted to make an album that would break away from his own popular soul style" and that "the concept was built around his friend Bill Evans," [5] who served as arranger for these sessions. [6]
Barely noticeable on the album cover is a small picture of Evans, directly underneath the sculpture (from the Bertha Schaefer Gallery) to Adderley's right.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [7] |
| DownBeat |  [8] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [9] |
| Record Mirror | [10] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [11] |
The AllMusic review by Rick Anderson stated: "It's hard to imagine any fan of mainstream jazz not finding much to love on this very fine recording." [12] The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 3 stars out of 4, stating: "The quartet date with Bill Evans was one of the last chances to hear [Adderley] as sole horn, and he sounds fine." [9]
Keith Shadwick notes that the album "presented Adderley in an unusually lush and reserved but sympathetic setting that brings out most positively his deep appreciation of Benny Carter's playing, especially on the ballads. Evans's own playing across the three dates is relaxed and expansive." [13]
The album was digitally remastered and released on compact disc by Riverside and Original Jazz Classics in 1987 with two bonus tracks, alternate takes of Gershwin's "Who Cares?" and Evans's title track. A 20-bit remastered edition followed in 2000 and then a new edition in 2011 with an alternate take of Clifford Jordan's "Toy," which completes the extant recordings from these sessions. [14]
Tracks 2-3, 7, 9-10 recorded on January 27, 1961; tracks 5 & 6 on February 21; tracks 1, 4 & 8 recorded on March 13, 1961, all at Bell Sound Studios, New York City.
William John Evans was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, and trademark rhythmically independent "singing" melodic lines continue to influence jazz pianists today.
Portrait in Jazz is the fifth studio album by American jazz pianist Bill Evans as a leader, released in 1960. It is the first of only two studio albums to be recorded with his famous trio featuring bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian.
Explorations is an album by jazz pianist Bill Evans that was originally released by Riverside Records in 1961. It was the second and final studio album Evans recorded with his classic trio featuring Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums.
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Perhaps the hours of greatest pleasure in my life have come about as a result of the capacity of the piano to be in itself a complete expressive musical medium. In retrospect, I think that these countless hours of aloneness with music unified the directive energy of my life. At those times when I have achieved this sense of oneness while playing alone, the many technical or analytic aspects of the music happened of themselves with positive rightness which always served to remind me that to understand music most profoundly one only has to be listening well. Perhaps it is a peculiarity of mine that despite the fact that I am a professional performer, it is true that I have always preferred playing without an audience. This has nothing to do with my desire to communicate or not, but rather I think just a problem of personal self-consciousness which had to be conquered through discipline and concentration. Yet, to know one is truly alone with one’s instrument and music has always been an attractive and conducive situation for me to find my best playing level. Therefore, what I desired to present in a solo piano recording was especially this unique feeling.
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Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra is an album by American jazz pianist Bill Evans and his trio, released in 1966, featuring jazz arrangements of works by classical composers Granados, J.S. Bach, Scriabin, Fauré, and Chopin. The trio is accompanied by an orchestra consisting of strings and woodwinds arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman. Originals by both Evans and Ogerman are also included.
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Intuition is a jazz album by pianist Bill Evans and bassist Eddie Gómez released by Fantasy Records in 1975.
"Waltz for Debby" is a jazz standard composed by pianist Bill Evans, which became "his most famous tune." He first recorded it as a brief solo piano piece on his debut album, New Jazz Conceptions (1956). Lyrics were added about six years later by Evans's friend Gene Lees. "Debby" in the composition's title refers to Evans's then 3-year-old niece, Debby Evans, whom he often took to the beach.
Montreux III is a live album by jazz pianist Bill Evans and bassist Eddie Gómez, recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 1975 and released on the Fantasy label.
The Tokyo Concert is a live album by jazz pianist Bill Evans with bassist Eddie Gómez and drummer Marty Morell recorded at the Yūbin Chokin Hall in Tokyo, Japan, in 1973 and released on the Fantasy label.
Go is an album by jazz bassist Paul Chambers recorded in Chicago in 1959 and released by the Vee-Jay label. Featured musicians include trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, pianist Wynton Kelly and drummer Philly Joe Jones. The album was re-released in 1997 as a double CD featuring additional recordings and alternate takes from the sessions and included as part of the Mosaic Box Set The Complete Vee Jay Paul Chambers/Wynton Kelly Sessions 1959-61 in 2000.
