Thanks to the family of Bill Evans the ARC is the happy recipient of 90 LPs by the great Jazz pianist.  Most are mint and first pressing.  Some sealed.  Some with ringwear.  All the vinyl is sweet.  The twist is that we recently did research for Craft who are doing the Riverside reissue of Waltz for Debby. They needed scans of a perfect cover, liner notes, labels and spine.  We found both a first stage and second stage pressing in our collection – but Tim and Fred had to unpack a pallet to get it!  Would have been nice if this donation had arrived just a few days earlier…

The range of works and collaborators is amazing.  Beyond his many trios, albums in this collection feature Chet Baker, Tony Bennett, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, George Russell, John Coltrane, Art Farmer, Benny Colson, Oliver Nelson and so many others.  Mr. Evens has probably been heard by most people on Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue.  He also wrote the liner notes for that 1959 release!   Only with Miles’ sextet for that one year, Blue remains the best selling jazz album of all time.   My personal favorite LP featuring Evans is Blues and the Abstract Truth.

We’ll be writing more about this collection, but for now I’ve attached the list of what was donated, not full cataloging info.   Just wanted to let folks know about this generous gift. All thanks to MattEvans.

Here’s the donor’s list of what they sent, disc by him or he played on : Bill Evans – The V.I.P. Theme   •   Art Farmer / Bill Evans   •   Oliver Nelson – Blues and the Abstract Truth (sealed LP)   •   Living Time – Bill Evans and George Russell Orchestra – 2 lp’s   •   The Soft Land of Make Believe – Frank Minion   •   Mark Murphy – Rah   •   Bill Evans – JazzHouse   •   The Singing Reed – Lucy Reed   •   Pike’s Peak – The Dave Pike Quartet   •   Bill Evans – You’re Gonna Hear From Me   •   Bill Evans – Symbiosis   •   Bill Evans – New Conversations   •   What’s New – Bill Evans with Jeremy Steig   •   Bill Evans – We Will Meet Again – 2 lp’s   •   Hooray for Bill Evans Trio (Bootleg sealed) + second LP in fair condition   •   The Canadian Concert of Bill Evans   •   Bill Evans – Conversations with Myself   •   Bill Evans – Affinity with Toots Thielemanns   •   Bill Evans – I Will Say Goodbye   •   Tony Bennett and Bill Evans – Together Again   •   Bill Evans – The Village Vanguard Sessions   •   Bill Evans – Portrait in Jazz   •   Bill Evans – Peace Piece and Other Pieces   •   Bill Evans – Moonbeams   •   Bill Evans – Since We Met (sealed)   •   Gary McFarland Orchestra with Bill Evans   •   Free Blown Jazz – Tony Scott and Jimmy Knepper   •   The Incredible Kai Winding Trombones with Bill Evans   •   Tony Scott – Golden Moments with Bill Evans   •   Idol of the Flies – Jimmy Knepper with Bill Evans   •   Helen Merrill – The Nearness of You   •   The Magic Touch – Tadd Dameron   •   Guys and Dolls like Vibes – Eddie Costa Quartet   •   The Ivory Hunters – Bob Brookmeyer and Bill Evans   •   Just Jazz – Benny Golson with Bill Evans   •   At Newport – Teddy Wilson and Bill Evans   •   The Great Kai and J.J. with Bill Evans   •   Bill Evans – From Left to Right   •   Bill Evans – A Tribute   •   Bill Evans – Recorded Live at Shelly’s Manne Hole (2 different releases)   •   Bill Evans – Alone   •   Bill Evans – Conception   •   Bill Evans – You Must Believe in Spring   •   Modern Jazz Concert   •   Nirvana – Herbie Mann and the Bill Evans Trio   •   Bill Evans – A Rare Original (bootleg in fair condition)   •   Bill Evans – Waltz for Debby   •   Cannonball Adderley – Know What I Mean with Bill Evans   •   Bill Evans – Montreux II   •   The Complete Riverside Collection   •   Chet Baker plays the best of Lerner and Loewe   •   Sahib Shihab – Jazz Sahib   •   John Lewis presents Jazz Abstractions    •   Tony Scott – Sung Heroes   •   Tony Scott – I’ll Remember   •   Richie Garcia – A Message from Garcia   •   George Russell – Jazz in the Space Age   •   Miles Davis – Jazz at the Plaza (Volume 1)   •   Bill Evans – The Paris Concert Edition One   •   Bill Evans – The Paris Concert Edition Two   •   Charlie Mingus – East Coasting   •   Everybody Digs Bill Evans   •   Bill Evans – Intuition   •   Something New, Something Blue   •   Bill Evans – Interplay   •   Bill Evans – How My Heart Sings (2 lp’s)   •   Dave Brubeck – Gone with the Wind   •   Erroll Garner Encores   •   The One and Only Erroll Garner   •   Dave Brubeck – Angel Eyes   •   Ahmad Jamal – But Not For Me   •   Bill Evans – Live in Paris 1972 Vol 3   •   Bill Evans – Live in Paris 1972 Vol 2   •   Bill Evans – Live in Paris 1972 Vol 1   •   Bill Evans – Live in Buenos Aires 1979   •   Bill Evans – Live in Buenos Aires 1973   •   Chick Corea / Bill Evans Sessions with Stan Getz   •   Bill Evans – Eloquence   •   John Handy Quintet / Bill Evans Trio   •   Chet Baker – Chet   •   Bill Evans – Live at Balboa Vol 2   •   Bill Evans – Trio 65   •   Bill Evans – A Simple Matter of Conviction (3 lp’s)   •   Bill Evans – Spring Leaves   •   Bill Evans – Empathy   •   Miles Davis – Kind of Blue   •   Bill Evans at Town Hall    •   Bill Evans – Live at the Village Vanguard   •   Bill Evans – Re: Person I Knew   •   The Blues and the Abstract Truth