Great story and recap. Thx Paul and Bob for sharing this with us.
I once got to sit in with Bill Evans at the Blue Note in NY around 1975 or so. I was friends with
Marty Morell, Bill's drummer back then. I did some gigs with Marty back them when he was off the road and shot some pool on occasion and even had some dinners with him and his wife. Marty introduced me to Eddie and one time I went to Eddie's house and we played some Zimmerman Bass duets. That was a blast. One night while watching them play Eddie comes up to me and asks me, "hey Kenny (they called me Kenny then), wanna sit in on the last set (3am-4am)?" Of course I accepted..!
Playing opposite was Al Cohn with Ross Tompkins-Piano, maybe Shaugnessy on Drums but can't remember now and Chuck Israels-Bass. Chuck comes up to me at 2am as the Evans trio was getting on stage and says, "Kenny, I'm not feeling to well, would you mind playing the last set for me? You can just put my Bass (Alvisio Piattellini, c.1790) upstairs in the office after the set. I need to go home and get some rest".
Well, I accepted, played the set and put the Bass away fast because I was to play in the next set with Bill. Eddie started out and played a bit and then waived me up. I sat down on the stool with his Bass in hand smiled at Marty and then looked at Bill. Bill asks, "what would you like to play?".. Nervously I said "Green Dolphin Street". Bill starts playing, I gear up and then oh xxxx.. He's doing it in Eb! EVERYONE in NY plays it in C that I had worked with and NEVER played it in Eb in my life that I remembered unless I was playing along with some record. Well, I just listened, threw away any position type licks I had in my bag of tricks and played what I heard. It came off ok with maybe a chorus or two solo and then he took out the tune. Then Bill looks up at me and says softly "felt nice". I gave the Bass back to Eddie and walked off stage, 'tail between my legs' like a shamed dog and sat down. Afterwards I asked Marty in my own paranoid way if Bill liked my playing and Marty told me Bill says what he thinks or says nothing at all!
So, that's my Bill Evans story knowing maybe all the Bass players that have played with him but never know about PW until meeting him over on TB.
Paul, I bet your shoes felt a few sizes bigger after having worked with Bill. Just one tune with him has left me a life long memory.