His strong Sicilian family bond (La Barbera's parents were Sicilian immigrants with the three La Barbera brothersPat, John, and Joebeing born here), the La Barbera family band, Joe La Barbera's coming up the ranks playing locally in upstate New York, his Army Band hitch, stints with Woody Herman, assisting Buddy Rich, and four years with Chuck Mangione all prepped him for what was coming. By way of a intro to his eventual joining Evan's trio, La Barbera shares his background as person and professional.
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There's no fluff or baroque embellishment. The book is written in a clear, narrative style. Extemporaneous magic would manifest itself as nuggets of creation circulated among the group like electrons around an atom. The authors bolster that fact by recounting Evan's performance and recording modus operandi e.g., minimal use of prepared charts and rehearsals and the pianist's willingness to share, receive, and return improvisational ideas. All three were successful in that effort. Evans insured, encouraged, and insisted upon that he relished what he called "The Joy of Discovery," and mentored La Barbera and Johnson to devote themselves to embracing the highest performance levels possible. No longer was it a pianist/leader with sidemen the Evans trios and the last one portrayed here so informatively were a true collaboration, a trio in uno musical communication of the highest order. La Barbera's observations, perceptions, and interactions with Evans during that periodthose both musical and mundane are expressed with great clarity, insights, and an obvious love for the pianist.Įvans as leader had reimagined the classic piano trio, both in essence and actuality. Those years were Evans' last, but, as the authors tell so well, they were permeated with canyon-deep emotion, dizzying musical heights, and ultimately, bitter sorrow. In Times Remembered award-winning drummer Joe La Barbera and drummer/journalist Charles Levin take readers along on La Barbera's (and bassist Marc Johnson's) two years performing and recording with Bill. While that all may be so, the perspectives and insights we receive from this fascinating, fly-on-the-wall memoir are substantial and quite significant. So much has been written about his "decades-long suicide" by way of heroin addiction, intravenous cocaine use, and health abuse that the pianist-composer's life assumes an echoing of a Shakespearean tragedya musical "Macbeth," perhaps.
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Reading about the life, career, and ultimate tragedy that was Bill Evansas opposed to listening to his glorious playingis neither an easy nor enjoyable task. Times Remembered -The Final Years of the Bill Evans Trio