Captured in 1975,
On a Friday Evening
is an engaging and deeply intimate album that finds pianist
Bill Evans
and his trio in performance at Oil Can Harry's in Vancouver, British Columbia. Recorded by radio host Gary Barclay, the album was initially broadcast on Barclay's CHQM jazz show before languishing unheard for the next 40 years. Fully restored, this 2021 archival release finds
Evans
backed by one of his best latter-career rhythm sections featuring bassist
Eddie Gomez
and drummer
Eliot Zigmund
. Radio broadcasts of live concerts were not unheard of in the '60s and '70s, and
works as a nice companion album to the similar 2017 radio restoration
On a Monday Evening
, which featured the same lineup and some of the same tunes. That said,
is an even better sounding restoration and truly represents the intricate group dynamics and virtuosity they'd developed on tour together. While
Gomez
had been with
since 1968, the trio's warm and enveloping style becomes even more impressive when you realize that drummer
Zigmund
was barely into his first year with the pianist when they hit the stage at Oil Can Harry's in June of 1975. Together, they play with a lithe focus that balances
' close-eyed intensity with moments of lively, contrapuntal group interplay. Particularly enrapturing is their take on "Sugar Plum," which
kicks off by himself, anchoring his twirling right-hand lines with steady left-hand chords before
takes his own lyrical solo. We also get equally inspired renditions of such
' favorites as "Sareen Jurer," "Quiet Now," and "How Deep Is the Ocean." ~ Matt Collar