George Russell: Concerto for Billy the Kid

Every important theorist needs a worthy practitioner. The collaboration between composer George Russell and pianist Bill Evans began in 1955, and soon struck pay dirt with Russells frame to match the vigor and vitality in Evanss playing. "Vigor and vitality" may puzzle those who know Evans only by his later, introspective work, but Concerto for Billy the Kid more than justifies Russell's adjectives. The band is stellar and Art Farmer's solo is characteristically fine. But Russell's advanced modal writing focuses on Evans, who flawlessly executes a difficult passage in octaves and then delivers a long, muscular single-note solo. Dazzling stuff.