by Scott Yanow
This collaboration (reissued on CD) is predictably dull. Bill Evans and his 1965 trio (which also includes bassist Chuck Israels and drummer Larry Bunker) meet a symphony orchestra conducted and arranged by Claus Ogerman. They perform adaptations of six classical themes plus a pair of Evans compositions (&Time Remembered& and &My Bells&) but, as one might expect, the strings weigh down the music and Evans' improvisations are somewhat buried beneath the unimaginative arrangements. This is one of Bill Evans' least significant recordings, a weak third stream effort.