This eight-CD box set documents Evans' performances at his eight-night stint at the San Francisco Keystone Korner club in the late summer of 1980; he would die about a week after the final show on September 8. Accompanied by
Marc Johnson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums, he runs through no less than 65 performances, most of them standards, and also including about ten Evans originals. Although Evans was still playing well in these final performances, eight CDs of this might be deemed excessive for all but the hardest of hardcore Evans and jazz piano fans. You could say that virtually all eight-CD box sets are only for devotees, but the fact that many of the selections show up in multiple versions further limits its appeal beyond the converted; there are six versions of "Nardis," for example, and three of both "Turn Out the Stars" and "But Beautiful." When not playing his own compositions, Evans here focused on standards, along the lines of "Spring Is Here," "My Romance," "Days of Wine and Roses," "Autumn Leaves," and "My Man's Gone Now." ~ Richie Unterberger