by Scott Yanow
Although pianist Bill Evans had been recording as a leader steadily since 1959 (with one date in 1956), it wasn't until this 1962 session -- one of his first after returning to active playing a year after bassist Scott LaFaro's tragic death -- that he introduced a horn. Evans is featured with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Philly Joe Jones performing five veteran standards (highlighted by &You and the Night and the Music,& &You Go to My Head,& and &Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams&), plus the pianist's blues &Interplay.& Excellent music. [The CD reissue also adds a second take of &I'll Never Smile Again.&]