Gil Evans: La Nevada

Gil Evans was always adept at the less is more theory. One year before this recording, he issued Great Jazz Standards, featuring a shorter first draft of La Nevada, then called The Theme." For this second and masterful version, he uses less musicians but (sometimes more is more) has two drummers doubling on percussion. The structure of the piece is deceptively simple, and its construction is a wonder: suspense and contrast reign supreme, and all instruments have their exits and their entrances (youll see: the theme exposure by the trombones will soon become your favorite). Then, some of them tell their story through short, powerful solos in a décor of dense polyrhythm and sparse efficient riffs. Masterwork is a small word, after all.