Undercurrent

What a brutal listen. This was just a slog to get through, man. Admittedly, I have NEVER been into Bill Evans. I don’t have a problem with piano-centered jazz, as I do like a lot of Thelonious Monk’s stuff, and Ahmad Jamal is my favorite jazz musician of all time, but Bill Evans has never been someone I liked. His music always sounded very safe and milquetoast. This album is no exception. I’m obviously extremely harsh on this album, but with a ‘must hear’ tag on AOTY, and that masterful album cover (one of the greatest in music history), I really expected better. This just seemed half-assed. But at the same time, I know it wasn’t; the guitarist and Bill Evans had obvious chemistry and their parts blended together very well. It’s just a great display of musicianship and a terrible display of art. This isn’t really anything more than wallpaper music, to be honest. And I know this review is brutal, and the tracks weren’t bad in themselves, but as an idea this thing just sucked.