About

Individual title from The Bill Evans Riverside Recordings Box Set 
45 RPM, 2LP reissued on 180g black vinyl
Mastered by Kevin Gray & Steve Hoffman at AcousTech Mastering AAA analog from original master tapes

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Almost every one of the 11 albums featuring Bill Evans that were issued during his pivotal early years (1956-1964) with Riverside were trio performances. Of the two exceptions, one was strictly speaking not an Evans record (Know What I Mean?, a quartet album that featured Bill but was under the leadership of Cannonball Adderley.) The other is Interplay. Adding trumpet and guitar to create an unusual quintet alignment, concentrating on the standard tunes, and with brighter tempos than are generally associated with his playing, it is a uniquely valuable addition to the catalog of perhaps the most important pianist in modern jazz. — (via Label)

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Interplay stands as some of Bill Evans' most enigmatic and unusual music in makeup as well as execution. It was recorded in July 1962 with a very young Freddie Hubbard from the Jazz Messengers, guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Philly Joe Jones performing five veteran standards. Evans has a more blues-based approach to playing: harder, edgier, and in full flow, fueled in no small part by Hall, who is at his very best here, swinging hard whether it be a ballad or an uptempo number. Hubbard's playing, on the other hand, was never so restrained as it was here. Using a mute most of the time, his lyricism is revealed to jazz listeners for the first time — with Art Blakey it was a blistering attack of hard bop aggression. On this program of standards, however, Hubbard slips into them quite naturally without the burden of history — check his reading and improvisation on "When You Wish Upon a Star." Ironically, it's on the sole original, the title track, where the band in all its restrained, swinging power can be best heard, though the rest is striking finger-popping hard bop jazz, with stellar crystalline beauty in the ballads. — (via AllMusic)

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Interplay captures a rare moment when Bill Evans steps outside his familiar trio setting and invites a handful of peers into a musical conversation that feels both relaxed and thrilling. Recorded in July 1962 in Los Angeles and released the following summer, this session finds Evans alongside trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Philly Joe Jones—five musicians whose combined presence brings fresh colors to each tune.

Taken as a whole, Interplay isn’t about groundbreaking innovation. It’s about five seasoned players engaging with familiar landscapes in a way that feels natural and unforced. It gives off that feeling of showing up to a club and watching seasoned musicians playing off each other. It helps, too, that the record sounds so clean that you can close your eyes and imagine that you are in that imaginary club. For anyone who enjoys melodic invention, warm group dynamics, and moments of genuine surprise, this album remains a delightful chapter in Bill Evans’s legacy. — (via Glide Magazine)

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Label: Analogue Productions / Riverside 
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, 45 RPM, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo, 180gm
Reissued: 2026 / Originally Released: 1962
Genre: Jazz
Style: Post Bop, Modal

File under: Jazz - Bill Evans
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