Bill Evans Trio - Explorations

Explorations, recorded on February 2, 1961, was Bill Evans fourth LP as a leader and the second studio album by the legendary Evans trio with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian. Their first recording together had been the studio album Portrait in Jazz, recorded on December 28, 1959, which was Bill Evans’ third album as a leader, following New Jazz Conceptions (1956) and Everybody Digs Bill Evans (1958). 

Although both Evans and LaFaro participated on Tony Scott’s LP Sung Heroes, recorded in October 1959, they didn’t play on all of the tracks and they scarcely interact there. Evans and LaFaro’s superb chemistry was evident from the very first tune they recorded, and Evans was surely aware of that. As opposed to his previous albums, no solo piano selections were included on Portrait in Jazz and the trio was heard throughout the whole LP.  Drummer Paul Motian had been working with Evans on various projects since 1955 and as the drummer on New Jazz Conceptions.

Although the material on Explorations was wholly new to records for the Evans Trio at the time, some of the tunes were hardly new to the group’s repertoire, as shown by the two existing Birdland broadcasts showcasing “Nardis” and “Beautiful Love”, recorded respectively on April 30 and March 12, 1960. The Evans-LaFaro-Motian Trio would reach a climax with their June 25, 1961 club recordings at the Village Vanguard in New York. LaFaro would die in a car accident just ten days later, at the age of 25. Evans was so shocked by his bassist’s death that he waited a long time before forming a new trio.