Explorations (Bill Evans album)
1961 studio album by Bill Evans Trio
Explorations is an album by jazz pianist Bill Evans that was originally released by Riverside Records in 1961. It was the second and final studio album Evans recorded with his classic trio featuring Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums.
Background
The album is a follow-up to the trio's first recording from two years earlier, Portrait in Jazz. The delay in making a new record was largely attributable to Evans's drug habit and resulting hepatitis, which led LaFaro to play and record in the meantime with Ornette Coleman. When Explorations was finally recorded, it was not under happy circumstances. As Evans biographer Keith Shadwick relates: "Tension ... simmered, particularly between Evans and the abrasive LaFaro, who made no secret of his disgust at Evans's addiction. LaFaro played on a borrowed instrument, while the pianist was quickly complaining of a headache, probably brought on by the strain in the studio." Nonetheless, the resulting album turned out to be an influential and enduring classic that "brilliantly illustrates [Evans's] innovative concept of 'simultaneous improvisation.'"
Repertoire
The album's eight original tracks include five jazz standards and three modern jazz compositions. Explorations opens with a cover of John Carisi's "Israel," which had first been recorded by Miles Davis on the second Birth of the Cool session. The trio also covers Davis's own "Nardis," which Evans had first recorded in 1958 with Cannonball Adderley.
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The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1961 studio album by Bill Evans Trio. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q162930. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1961 and 1958.
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This entry incorporates text from “Explorations (Bill Evans album)” 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.