Jim Hall Music

I had misplaced this album a couple months ago and just put it in the cd player after finding it. This is Jim in top form. His lines are exquisite. The chord voicings and voice leading are the things dreams are made of. This album will clear up any doubts that the man is truly peerless.

I had misplaced this album a couple months ago and just put it in the cd player after finding it. This is Jim in top form. His lines are exquisite. The chord voicings and voice leading are the things dreams are made of. This album will clear up any doubts that the man is truly peerless.

A tour de force. Its been a long time since an hour of recorded music has sped by so quickly. This band cooks like few others & the guests each add a piquant 'flavour' to the dish that is uniquely his own. Rejoice in Jim Hall & his friends!

This album just doesn't live up to some of Jim Hall's other work. This just seems kind of hollow, and Jim's adoption of the use of effects on his guitar takes something away from the playing. Do yourself a favor and check out other stuff by Jim Hall first (i.e. his recordings with Paul Desmond.)

Wonderful band. It's so nice to actually hear a group having a conversation with each member actually saying something! I highly recomend this one for any music lover.

3 1/2 stars.

Jim Hall playing chart-heavy, progressive chamber-jazz? Doesn't work for me. Only occasional swing, little energy, dicey concept. Other aggravations: Too many cooks (liner notes indicate Jim's wife, his agent, Gil Goldstein, a transcriber); misleading credits (artists prominently displayed on jewel box credits, such as Joe Lovano, end up playing on one cut.

But it's still Jim Hall, certainly one of the finest ever jazz guitarists. And it does pick up somewhat after a slow start. Still, probably for Hall completists only.

As a listener very familiar with the Bill Evans library, this is as good as he gets. As a listener I appreciate the poignant interplay between two musicians who obviously had a lot of sympathy for one another. Bill's interpretations of standards always succeed in making them his own, and Jim's style lends itself to that very well. These tracks are so inspired that rather than thinking "oh, here's My Funny Valentine again" it's easy to get lost in their creativity and forget you're listening to well worn standards. As a musician I appreciate their rock-solid time, their natual use of space, and how masterfully they handled the difficulties of a piano guitar duo. Any fan of either musician will have difficulty putting this one down.

Beeyootiful music.
Evans is stellar as most always, and Hall steps up to the plate and plays as well as he ever did on record.
The version of Valentine that opens the disc swings hard, with some surprisingly funky comping from Jim during Bill's wonderfully over the top solo. Hall tries to ease him back into the head afterwards, but Evans just keeps on cruising, quietly pushing the beat while the guitar pulls back on it. The resultant sound is unusual and a cool end to a wild ride.
The rest of the (sadly) short album is five ballads, with nary a boring moment to be found. This is perfect bathtub music (just ask the gal on the cover), and will send your mind to some lovely places.
I have not yet heard the reissue with the extra tracks, and am looking forward to it. I have the Japanese remaster, and it sounds just fine, very clear and warm (got it from the used list here on amazon, and imagine my surprise when I got a 25 dollar import for four dollars, in perfect unplayed shape. It pays to look around...).
Undercurrent makes a perfect companion to Evans and Hall's other recording, Intermodulation; they both fit on one cd and create a lush ambience.

Every time I hear this, it's new. The inventiveness of these two as individuals is amazing; but together - unbelievable.

This CD has gotten a certain amount of attention due to its similarities with "Metheny Mehldau" (or vice versa). There seem to be a lot of people who love "Undercurrent", including the people who write the Penguin book on jazz reviews, so the fact that I just like it may not be popular with some people. The first thing is that the sound on the "Undercurrent" CD is muddy. My other complaint is that rhythm doesn't gell for me on most of the songs, some of the playing comes off as tentative. As a result, some of the songs float by without making much of an impression. The CD opens with "My Funny Valentine", and includes an alternate version. Atypically, I think the alternate version is better than the original CD version, I believe it swings better. The program consists of mainly standards, with "Romain" by Jim Hall being an exception. "Romain" is one of the better songs, Jim Hall sounds more inspired and takes a more prominent role than in the other songs. In closing, listen to the samples, and figure out if you'll like it.

While there is some precedent in early blues records for the piano/guitar format(Scrapper Blackwell and Leroy Carr come to mind), Bill Evans and Jim Hall are THE innovators for this instrumentation in jazz - their achievements on "Undercurrent" and "Intermodulation" established the standard by which subsequent piano/guitar sessions, including those of Joe Pass and Oscar Peterson ("a Salle Pleyel"); Joe Pass and Jimmy Rowles ("Checkmate"); Bill Frisell and Fred Hersch ("Songs We Know"); John Abercrombie and Andy LaVerne ("Timeless", "A Nice Idea", "Nosmo King"); and, in some tangential way, Cecil Taylor and Derek Bailey (On FMP's 1988 11 CD Cecil Taylor in Berlin release), are judged.

In their duet recordings, Evans and Hall first grappled successfully with some very tough issues that arise in piano/guitar duets - in this context, it can be very difficult to keep the instruments from stepping on each other's lines, but Evans and Hall each manage to carve out independent roles for themselves that each contribute to a very cohesive whole. To my ear, Evans is at the top of his game during these sessions, while Hall was only beginning to develop into the master that he is today (This is not to denigrate Hall's acheivement, but to point out that a great player then became substantially more accomplished over the next 40 years). From that perspective, these are Evans' sessions - his voicings, solos and accompaniments in these sessions outshine Hall's, and I can almost feel Evans accommodating some of Hall's less successful strategies. Still, the sum of their contributions is a beautiful, subtle mosaic of wonderful, meditative versions of standards.

It is instructive to compare the Evans/Hall sessions to some of the others mentioned above. Joe Pass and Jimmy Rowles come closest to duplicating the chemistry of the Evans/Hall sessions, except that Pass dominates "Checkmate" in the way that Evans dominates "Undercurrent". Pass and Peterson are almost too accomplished as soloists to cooperate on duets - their duets, which come after each plays a number of solo pieces, sound more like simultaneous solos that cooperative undertakings (although I can hear them smiling while they're playing). Frisell and Hersch create - what? sound tapestries? - that are not quite as experimental as the songs that Frisell was making with other bands at the time, but not quite as interesting, either - almost as if they were hampered by sticking to standards rather than playing in the genres they are most familiar with.

The most interesting comparison is to the Abercrombie/LaVerne recordings "Timeless" and "A Nice Idea". These sessions include a substantial number of the tunes that Evans and Hall recorded, but they are executed by musicians who are much later in their careers than Evans and especially Hall were at the time of the "Undercurrent" and "Intermodulation" sessions. Abercrombie applies a very modern harmonic system to the tunes, using scales and substitutions that were simply not used in the early 60's. While Hall used a standard Gibson hollowbody guitar that produced at easily recognizable tone, Abercrombie uses custom built guitars and sophisticated electronics to create a very distinctive, although much more synthetic, tone. On many of the Evans/Hall songs, Hall uses full chord strumming to accompany Evans - Abercrombie walks bass lines while simultaneously playing fills and chords to create a more textured context for LaVerne's solos. LaVerne, on the other hand, plays in a style that is very reminiscent of Evans throughout these discs - that's hardly a criticism, except that where Evans, Hall and Abercrombie are reaching new heights in the form, LaVerne is maintaining a very high quality status quo.

How to rate these albums? "Undercurrent" and "Intermodulation" get five stars for getting there first and remaining beautiful after all these years. "Checkmate", "a Salle Pleyel" and "Songs We Know" are wonderful, but do not acheive the level of innovation of the Evans/Hall sessions. And Abercrombie and LaVerne have, to my ear, pushed the envelope of mainstream piano/guitar duets even further, and get five stars for doing so.

As to Cecil Taylor and Derek Bailey - well, that's not really a standards disc, is it?

This has a special place in my heart. This was the first full recording session Evans did after taking some time off after the death of Scott LaFaro in a tragic car accident. What I love about it is that none of this exquisite music is forced whatsoever. There's a great deal of silence and space around the notes... and the music simply flows naturally from the heart and soul of both players. What better way was there for Evans to get back in action than with someone as sensitive as Jim Hall? While Lafaro was no longer around, it's hard not to think of his absence when I listen to this treasure of a performance...almost like the whisperings of a prayer.

This record is, in my humble opinion, one of the most intriguing but overlooked albums in jazz history. The cd begins with a never-before released version of My Funny Valentine, which is a real gem, and makes me wonder why it was not favored over the version included on the original album. Evans and Hall shared a marvelous sense of throughfulness and lyricism in their playing which is captured on every track. This cd will bring you countless hours of relaxation, enjoyment, and reflection after a long stressful day at work, or on a cold winter's eve. If you are looking to add to your jazz collection or just looking for some beautiful and introspective music, do not pass over this cd!

There was pure magic at this session, the way Bill and Jim interact together on this CD is one of those special things that just happen. Besides these two being at the top of the class in jazz - and both having produced many, many fine recordings before and after "Undercurrant", this one is over the top. My favorite is "Skating in Central Park", but all the tunes are great, pure emotion flowing. The only possible negative thing that might be said is that most of the tunes are ballads, and the tempos don't vary that much. However, when somthing is working so well - why change it?

The partnership of Evans and Hall as an unaccompanied duo was an inspired one which produced two albums - this first one and the follow-up, Intermodulation. The two artists had much in common. For example, both were concerned to produce music that had beauty, and even refinement, of sound with no lack of musical substance. Both liked to play quietly, with an emphasis on subtlety and understatement, although they could also 'swing' infectiously at almost any tempo. Both also had years of experience as sidemen or accompanists in other people's groups and this made them particularly sensitive listeners, able to respond to and interact creatively with other soloists.

You can hear that kind of sensitivity and subtle interplay throughout this album, most obviously on the slower pieces but also on the fastest track, the original take of 'My Funny Valentine'. Listen especially to the way in which Hall's guitar fills in behind Evans's statement of the theme and then provides a driving rhythm under the pianist's improvisation. My favourite track is Hall's 'Romain', a moody, rather sombre theme which inspires the most intense and emotive playing on the album. It has some particularly haunting interplay between the players and displays the 'singing' qualities they could draw out of their instruments, especially at the magical point where Hall's solo leads into Evans's. It's good to have the bonus of an alternate take of this number on the CD edition, especially as it is slightly different: a bit slower, darker in mood and almost as good as the originally released version.

Undercurrent was always a rather special album; but in my opinion it is much superior on CD, first because of its enhanced sound quality and the quiet background which this intimate, concentrated music needs, secondly because the bonus tracks on the CD provide the 'added value' of quality as well as quantity. The programme originally consisted, rather oddly, of five slow tempo tracks with one fast one. The addition of the mid-tempo swinger, 'Getting Sentimental Over You' and an alternate take of 'My Funny Valentine' creates a better balanced album, although an extra slow ballad from the session, 'Stairway to the Stars', is well worth having too. It's an album which you can play, if you like, as a piece of chilled out background music which won't disturb the cat; but there's a lot going on under its polished surface to make it music which has to be listened to, and to be returned to again and again.

Indeed the title applies here; this record should be heard with low lighting, good company, and drink in hand...One of the most inspired pairing in jazz are preserved in this jewel of a recording that sounds as if it was recorded yesterday, A must for jazz lovers, but it can attract music lovers of any genre and age. My particular favorite is a John Lewis (of M.J.Q. fame) composition, included in the soundtrack of a movie - Odds Against Tomorrow - which happens to be a waltz! "Skating in Central Park". A gem!

I so much recommend this album!!!

Especially, "Django", 2nd track!!!