Gil Evans

Right before his death, Gil Evans sat down with Steve Lacey and cut this set of saxophone/keyboard duets. Evans (more of a group leader than a soloist) plays the keys the way he orchestrates large ensembles: laying down textures for Lacy to solo on top of. Three Mingus tunes form the centerpiece of the album, with Ellington's "Paris Blues" joining Evans' "Jelly Roll" and two very different readings of the Lacy tune "Extreme."

Gil Evans's swan song finds him beside a single soloist rather than in front of a big band – but
what a soloist. Steve Lacy, an occasional associate of Evans's for over thirty years, is the
reigning master of the soprano sax, a methodical, full-blooded player who dissects and
reassembles melodies like an impassioned surgeon. Evans's ultrasparse piano playing
sketches poetic frames around his soul mate, suggesting space and balance in m... More >