Ö1 Art Sunday: Milestones
Bill Evans und Jim Hall: “Undercurrent” (1962)
4. September 2022, 20:55
In August 1962, almost exactly 60 years ago, the album “Undercurrent” by pianist Bill Evans and guitarist Jim Hall was released. Not only the iconic album cover, which shows the underwater photograph of a woman in a white dress, attracts attention. Playing in a duo with piano and guitar is not an easy task. The timbres of the two stringed instruments (even on the piano, strings are struck with hammers) tend to get in each other’s way. But with Bill Evans and Jim Hall, the dialogue means pure magic: the two musicians play melodic elements dreamlike and communicate by means of sensitive chord coloring. The opening number “My Funny Valentine” demonstrates the highly empathetic interaction between the two. This chamber music jazz milestone was a blueprint and inspiration for numerous later guitar-piano duos.
Design: Klaus Wienerroither