Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra
album by Bill Evans and his Trio
Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra is an album by American jazz pianist Bill Evans and his trio, released in 1966, featuring jazz arrangements of works by classical composers Granados, J.S. Bach, Scriabin, Fauré, and Chopin. The trio is accompanied by an orchestra consisting of strings and woodwinds arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman. Originals by both Evans and Ogerman are also included.
The opening track, "Granadas," is based on the "maiden" theme of Granados's "The Maiden and the Nightingale" from his piano suite Goyescas but does not employ the "nightingale" theme. The two Evans originals, "Time Remembered" and "My Bells," had previously been recorded by a quintet led by Evans, featuring saxophonist Zoot Sims and guitarist Jim Hall; but since the pianist did not approve the release of that album, which appeared only posthumously, this was the first time recordings of these pieces reached the public. The Ogerman piece, "Elegia," is adapted from his Concerto for Orchestra and Jazz Piano.
Evans stated, "I really enjoyed making this album with Claus and record my deepest respect and admiration for him." The pianist would go on to make another orchestral album with Ogerman, Symbiosis, in 1974.
In 1967, Hellas Music Corp published a set of transcriptions of the arrangements for the Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra LP. The recording was issued on compact disc by Verve Records in 1984.
Reception
The album divided critical opinion. Scott Yanow stated in his AllMusic review: "This collaboration ...
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2903202. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1966, 1974, 1967 and 1984.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.