We are told:
Portrait in Jazz was Bill Evans’ third album as a leader, following ‘New Jazz Conceptions’ (1956) and ‘Everybody Digs Bill Evans’ (1958). It was also Evans’ first album with the talented bassist Scott La Faro.Their superb chemistry is evident from the very first tune and Evans was surely aware of that. As opposed to his previous albums, no solo piano selections were included here and the trio is heard throughout the whole album. The Evans-La Faro collaboration would reach a climax with their June 1961 club recordings at the Village Vanguard in New York. La Faro would die in a car accident soon after (on July 6, 1961), at the age of 25.The repertoire here consists basically of standards (all of them treated in Evans’ very personal style) plus two originals: ‘Peri’s Scope’ - premiered on ‘Portrait In Jazz’, Evans wouldn’t record it again until 1967 - and ‘Blue In Green’, first recorded earlier that year with Miles Davis on ‘Kind Of Blue’.CD in mini LP sleeve.
