Consecration: The Final Recordings Part 2 Bill Evans Trio Milestone, 2002   Buy it online Reviewed by Mark Gallo	Bill Evans died on September 15, 1980. The music captured on the eight-CD boxed set, Consecration: The Final Recordings Part 2, illuminates the separate worlds that his musical spirit and failing drug-beaten body inhabited. He would be dead within two weeks of this engagement, yet these performances present a self-assured and creative musician at his peak. Recorded August 31 through September 7, 1980 at San Francisco's Keystone Korner, Consecration is companion to The Last Waltz (Milestone 2000). The recorded selections assembled here are taken from the trio's first set, whereas The Last Waltz was largely from the second. The variations on 24 songs are heavy on romantic classics. While many of these performances are introspective and beautifully rendered, there are glimpses of the trio's gusto, as well. Bassist Marc Johnson, who came from Woody Herman's band, and drummer Joe LaBarbera brought a vitality to Evans' work that, though it hadn't been missing, had been in need of a polishing. Pianist Evans was as harmonically inventive as he had been throughout his career, offering glimpses of improvisational skill that only the most accomplished, the most creative of musicians possess. While recorded works over the past 35 years or so might shine favorably on Evans' passionate playing, this live set, ironically his last, may be the most representative and impressive of his wholly impressive body of work. There is some irony in song selection. "Days of Wine and Roses," performed on four nights, is brilliantly executed and infused with a delicacy appropriate to the theme. The theme from the TV show MASH is played colorfully and injected with a series of clever and playful runs. Of course, the delight is in the playing and on each night Evans and his compatriots brought different emotions to the bandstand. Most tunes are revisited during the trio's stay. The enigmatic "Bill's Hit Tune," "But Beautiful," "Gary's Theme," "Letter to Evan," "Morning Glory," "Turn out The Stars," "Someday My Prince Will Come," "You and the Night and the Music" and "Up with the Lark" are each presented only once over the course of the engagement. One wonders what kept some songs around for the duration while others enjoyed a single performance. On September 4, for instance, two songs were performed that would not surface again. The song that Evans was most partial to was "My Romance" which would have six different performances. Five each are given "Knit for Mary F," "Like Someone in Love," "Re: Person I Knew," "Tiffany" and "Your Story." "Days of Wine and Roses," Paul Simon's "I Do It For Your Love" and "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" are played four nights each;"Emily," "My Foolish Heart," "Song From M*A*S*H* (Suicide is Painless)" and "The Two Lonely People" three each; and two performances are accorded the beautiful "Laurie" and the ironic "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)." Each of the 68 performances captured that week in San Francisco and presented here point to the genius that was Bill Evans. The jazz piano trio was rarely framed more gorgeously. | January 2003 Mark Gallo is a long-time freelance music journalist whose byline has appeared in over 30 publications in the past 25 years. He has also been a DJ, publicist and archivist/researcher. When not writing about music he is a social worker