The Bill Evans Trio - Waltz for Debby (1962/2011) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

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The Bill Evans Trio - Waltz for Debby (1962/2011) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

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Bill Evans Trio - Waltz for Debby (1962/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time - 65:59 minutes | 2,38 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time - 65:59 minutes | 1,44 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Digital Booklet

Recorded at the Village Vanguard in 1961, shortly before Scott LaFaro's death, Waltz for Debby is the second album issued from that historic session, and the final one from that legendary trio that also contained drummer Paul Motian. While the Sunday at the Village Vanguard album focused on material where LaFaro soloed prominently, this is far more a portrait of the trio on those dates. Evans chose the material here, and, possibly, in some unconscious way, revealed on these sessions – and the two following LaFaro's death (Moonbeams and How My Heart Sings!) – a different side of his musical personality that had never been displayed on his earlier solo recordings or during his tenures with Miles Davis and George Russell: Evans was an intensely romantic player, flagrantly emotional, and that is revealed here in spades on tunes such as "My Foolish Heart" and "Detour Ahead." There is a kind of impressionistic construction to his harmonic architecture that plays off the middle registers and goes deeper into its sonances in order to set into motion numerous melodic fragments simultaneously. The rhythmic intensity that he displayed as a sideman is evident here in "Milestones," with its muscular shifting time signature and those large, flatted ninths with the right hand. The trio's most impressive interplay is in "My Romance," after Evans' opening moments introducing the changes. Here Motian's brushwork is delicate, flighty and elegant, and LaFaro controls the dynamic of the tune with his light as a feather pizzicato work and makes Evans' deeply emotional statements swing effortlessly. Of the many recordings Evans issued, the two Vanguard dates and Explorations are the ultimate expressions of his legendary trio.

About the Mastering:
"These files are transferred from the original analog master tapes exclusively, not from safety copies or production dubs. The transfers are made in a facility dedicated to getting the most quality possible from these masters, and preserving all of the information in the files so that it's available to the listener. I'm an experienced mastering engineer, but I've also been an audiophile myself for decades. Because of my background in the audiophile world I am sensitive to the qualities of sound that an audiophile values, more so than many engineers in the pro recording world.

"In our decades-long study of the factors which are responsible for sound quality, my colleagues and I have found a number of key areas which must be addressed. First, it is critical to recover as much information as possible from the tapes, since detail lost at any stage can never be restored at a later stage. We use only top quality tape transports (highly tweaked Ampex ATR-100's and Studer A80's) matched with custom playback electronics from ATR Service or Tim de Paravicini. The playback electronics that came with these decks years ago just don't compare to the audiophile grade electronics we've all gotten accustomed to in our systems. The custom electronics that we use recover much more musically meaningful detail, more spatial cues, and more texture and three-dimensionality than the stock electronics.

"Decisions about any potential rebalancing or sonic restoration are made in acoustically treated rooms equipped with highest-quality audiophile playback systems. Any circuitry in the signal path, as well as cabling and AC power, are chosen for sonic performance. At the crucial step of analog to digital conversion, we have chosen the Pacific Microsonics Model Two ( designed by the legendary Kieth Johnson of Reference Recordings fame ). As important as all this is, there are two even more important parts of the puzzle: first, the experience and judgment of the mastering engineer in deciding when to adjust something and when to leave things alone. Second, our commitment to work as hard as necessary, and to avoid any shortcuts which might compromise quality.

"For instance, when both a 96K file and a 192K file are called for, it would be faster and more efficient to transfer it once, at 192K, and use a file conversion utility to convert it down for the 96K file. The file conversion programs are pretty good these days. Are they 100% as good as a direct transfer? This is a question we lose no sleep over. We take the extra care; we wind the tape back to the beginning, reset the capture system to 96K, and transfer it again. It's more work, but the result is something we can stand behind unequivocally. This commitment to do whatever it takes to get you the highest quality listening experience is at the heart of the Stubb-U-Sonic(™) principles."

– Paul Stubblebine, remastering engineer