Waltz for Debby (1964 album)

Last updated
Waltz for Debby
Waltzfordebbyzetterlund2.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedDecember 1964
RecordedAugust 29, 1964
Stockholm, Sweden
Genre Vocal jazz
Label Verve
Bill Evans chronology
The Bill Evans Trio "Live"
(1964)
Waltz for Debby
(1964)
Trio '65
(1965)
Alternative Cover
Waltzfordebbyzetterlund1.jpg
Cover of the 1997 West Wind reissue

Waltz for Debby is a 1964 album in English and Swedish by the trio of American jazz pianist Bill Evans and the Swedish singer Monica Zetterlund. Evans met her on a tour of Sweden and was "bowled over" by her EP recording of "Waltz for Debby" with a Swedish text titled "Monica Vals." Evans's manager, Helen Keane, set up a recording session for them at the end of the Swedish tour. [1]

Contents

The album was released on CD by West Wind in 1997 and reissued by Verve Records in 2006. [2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]

Writing for AllMusic, music critic Thom Jurek wrote of the album: "The match is seemingly perfect. Evans' lyricism is well suited to a breezy, sophisticated songstress like Monica Zetterlund. There is an iciness on this recording, but it is difficult to decipher if it is in the performance or in the engineering where she seems to be way out in front of the band, when she was really in the middle of all the musicians in the studio. ... The Swedish version of 'Waltz for Debby' is a true delight because Zetterlund's voice becomes another instrument, soloing over the top of Evans' stunning selection of comping chords. In all this is an odd but special item, one that is necessary—for at least one listen—by any serious fan of the pianist and composer." [3]

Track listing

  1. "Come Rain or Come Shine" (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) – 4:41
  2. "A Beautiful Rose (Jag vet en dejlig rosa) – 2:53
  3. "Once Upon a Summertime" (Eddie Barclay, Michel Legrand, Johnny Mercer) – 3:03
  4. "So Long Big Time" (Harold Arlen, Dory Previn) – 3:49
  5. "Waltz for Debby (Monicas Vals)" (Bill Evans, Beppe Wolgers) – 2:47
  6. "Lucky to Be Me" (Leonard Bernstein) – 3:36
  7. "Sorrow Wind (Vindarna Sucka) – 3:03
  8. "It Could Happen to You" (Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen) – 3:00
  9. "Some Other Time" (Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green) – 5:35
  10. "In the Night (Om Natten)" (Olle Adolphson) – 1:40

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<i>Sunday at the Village Vanguard</i> 1961 live album by The Bill Evans Trio

Sunday at the Village Vanguard is a live album by jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans and his Trio consisting of Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian. Released in 1961, the album is routinely ranked as one of the best live jazz recordings of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monica Zetterlund</span> Swedish jazz singer and actress

Monica Zetterlund was a Swedish jazz singer and actress. Through her lifetime, she starred in over 10 Swedish film productions and recorded over 20 studio albums. She gained international fame through her collaborative album with Bill Evans, Waltz for Debby.

<i>The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album</i> 1975 studio album by Tony Bennett, Bill Evans

The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album is a 1975 studio album by singer Tony Bennett and pianist Bill Evans.

<i>Waltz for Debby</i> (1962 album) 1962 live album by The Bill Evans Trio

Waltz for Debby is a live album by jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans and his trio consisting of Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian. It was released in 1962.

<i>Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book</i> 1961 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book is a 1961 album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with a studio orchestra conducted and arranged by Billy May. This album marked the only time that Fitzgerald worked with May.

<i>Together Again</i> (Tony Bennett and Bill Evans album) 1977 studio album by Tony Bennett and Bill Evans

Together Again is a 1977 studio album by singer Tony Bennett and jazz pianist Bill Evans. It was originally issued on Bennett's own Improv Records label, which went out of business later that year, but was subsequently reissued on Concord.

Lawrence Benjamin Bunker was an American jazz drummer, vibraphonist, and percussionist. A member of the Bill Evans Trio in the mid-1960s, he also played timpani with the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra.

<i>California Here I Come</i> (album) 1982 live album by Bill Evans

California Here I Come is a live album by jazz pianist Bill Evans. It was recorded in 1967, but not released on the Verve label until 1982 as a double LP. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Jazz Album charts in 1983 and was reissued on CD in 2004. The pieces were recorded at the Village Vanguard, where Evans had previously recorded the sets that appeared on the highly influential Waltz for Debby and Sunday at the Village Vanguard, both later comprised on the definitive collection The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961.

<i>Trio 65</i> 1965 studio album by The Bill Evans Trio

Trio '65 is a studio album by American jazz pianist Bill Evans and his Trio, released in 1965.

"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.

<i>The Complete Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Recordings</i> 2009 compilation album by Tony Bennett and Bill Evans

The Complete Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Recordings is a two-CD box set released in 2009 compiling the two recording sessions by singer Tony Bennett and pianist Bill Evans which produced The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album in 1975 and Together Again in 1976, including twenty alternate takes and two bonus tracks not released on the original albums.

<i>Stan Getz & Bill Evans</i> 1973 studio album by Stan Getz & Bill Evans

Stan Getz & Bill Evans is an album by jazz saxophonist Stan Getz and pianist Bill Evans recorded in 1964 for the Verve label, but not released until 1973.

<i>Youre Gonna Hear from Me</i> (album) 1988 live album by Bill Evans

You're Gonna Hear From Me is a live album by jazz pianist Bill Evans with Eddie Gómez and Marty Morell recorded at the Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen in 1969 but not released until 1988 on the Milestone label. The same concert also produced the album Jazzhouse.

<i>Plays the Theme from The V.I.P.s and Other Great Songs</i> 1963 studio album by Bill Evans

Plays the Theme from The V.I.P.s and Other Great Songs is an album of theme music by jazz pianist Bill Evans with an orchestra conducted by Claus Ogerman recorded in 1963 for the MGM label.

<i>The Last Waltz: The Final Recordings</i> 2000 live album by Bill Evans

The Last Waltz: The Final Recordings is an 8-CD box set live album by jazz pianist Bill Evans with Marc Johnson and Joe LaBarbera recorded during a nine night residency at Keystone Korner in San Francisco in 1980 and released on the Milestone label in 2000. Additional recordings from this concert series were released as Consecration: The Final Recordings Part 2 released in 2002.

<i>Us Three</i> 1960 studio album by Horace Parlan

Us Three is an album by American jazz pianist Horace Parlan featuring performances recorded and released on the Blue Note label in 1960.

<i>November</i> (John Abercrombie album) 1993 studio album by John Abercrombie

November is an album by American jazz guitarist John Abercrombie recorded in November 1992 and released by ECM a year later. The trio features rhythm section Marc Johnson and Peter Erskine with reed player John Surman.

<i>Out of This World</i> (Pepper Adams Donald Byrd Quintet album) 1961 studio album by Pepper Adams Donald Byrd Quintet

Out of This World is an album by the Pepper Adams Donald Byrd Quintet. The album features the recording debut of pianist Herbie Hancock.

<i>Stan Getz in Stockholm</i> 1956 studio album by Stan Getz

Stan Getz in Stockholm is an album by saxophonist Stan Getz, recorded in Sweden in 1955 and first released on the Verve label.

<i>Reflections</i> (Stan Getz album) 1964 studio album by Stan Getz

Reflections is an album by saxophonist Stan Getz which was released on the Verve label in 1964.

References

  1. Pettinger, Peter, Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings, Yale University Press, 1998, pp. 157-58.
  2. Verve Music Group web site entry.
  3. 1 2 Jurek, Thom. "Waltz for Debby > Review". Allmusic . Retrieved June 28, 2011.