Moon Beams was the first recording
Bill Evans made after the death of his musical right arm, bassist
Scott LaFaro. Indeed, in
LaFaro,
Evans found a counterpart rather than a sideman, and the music they made together over four albums showed it. Bassist
Chuck Israels from
Cecil Taylor and
Bud Powell's bands took his place in the band with
Evans and drummer
Paul Motian and
Evans recorded the only possible response to the loss of
LaFaro -- an album of ballads. The irony on this recording is that, despite material that was so natural for
Evans to play, particularly with his trademark impressionistic sound collage style, is that other than as a sideman almost ten years before, he has never been more assertive than on
Moon Beams. It is as if, with the death of
LaFaro,
Evans' safety net was gone and he had to lead the trio alone. And he does first and foremost by abandoning the impressionism in favor of a more rhythmic and muscular approach to harmony. The set opens with an
Evans original, "RE: Person I Knew," a modal study that looks back to his days he spent with
Miles Davis. There is perhaps the signature jazz rendition of "Stairway to the Stars," with its loping yet halting melody line and solo that is heightened by
Motian's gorgeous brush accents in the bridge section. Other selections are so well paced and sequenced the record feels like a dream, with the lovely stuttering arpeggios that fall in "If You Could See Me Now," and the cascading interplay between
Evan's chords and
Israel's punctuation in "It Might as Well Be Spring," a tune
Evans played for the rest of his life. The set concludes with a waltz in "Very Early," that is played at that proper tempo with great taste and delicate elegance throughout, there is no temptation by the rhythm section to charge it up or to elongate the harmonic architecture by means of juggling intervals.
Moon Beams was a startling return to the recording sphere and a major advancement in his development as a leader.