Spinning ... Two Versions of "Waltz for Debby"

When I first got into Vinyl I found at a used record store an album by Bill Evans called Explorations - and the piano playing was terrific.  I asked my (now) Father In-Law if he had ever heard of him - and was met with an incredulous stare - the kind of stare you give to someone who claims to have never ridden in a car, or never eaten a hamburger.  After him shaking his head, undoubtedly in wonderment on how I could have lived 40+ years and not have known.  I looked up a bio on Bill Evans as soon as I could afterwards.

What an interesting guy.  He was a jazz pianist that was part of the group that brought forth the album A Kind of Blue with Miles Davis, and had a strong career right up until his untimely death in 1980 amongst drug addiction and sickness.

I started picking up a few more of his albums when I saw them in the store and online.

But what an artist, what a pianist!

In my current rotation is one of my favorite albums of his, recorded in 1961, Waltz for Debbie.

All of the songs are really good, but the one that has Bill Evans at his most Lyrical is the second track, whose title is the title of the album "Waltz for Debby."  It starts off with a simple waltz with the piano and bass playing in unison, then the bass remains on beat with the piano going though some very lush progressions.  All the time when he goes into the melody he returns to the "hook" at the very beginning - and then back with greater and greater variation with the band opening and kicking in with the percussion and a fuller sound and a melody of growing complexity and (mellow) flourish.  At this point, you feel like just sitting back and letting the whole thing wash over you - your toe will be tapping involuntarily and you relax into the groove.  One thing to note, too, that if your stereo is up to it, you will have a treat in that band will seem to be in the room with you - and your ears will be able to pick out their locations in your room (file under "Audiophile Feats and Stunts").  The SACD and the 24bit/96kHz FLAC file versions of it have about a solid "hologram" as I have ever had.  But nearly all of his stuff sounds great in any format - this is one of those things where format, in my view, is not as important as the music since the sound won't detract in any version I have heard.

I quickly used Spotify (GREAT for music discovery) and found out that Oscar Peterson did a version of it on his Affinity album! Oscar Peterson!  Again, one of these piano Jazz musicians that pays to get to know.  His rendition is definitely his own - only in bits and pieces would you think it was ever recorded by Bill Evans - he doesn't sink into it and roll around the way Bill Evans does - his version is higher energy, makes you want to get up and dance (I'll never tell if you do), and is full of the showmanship and flourish that is what I have come to expect from him.  I suppose, while Evan's version is mellow and hip, Oscar Peterson's version is higher in energy and overall a happier rendition.  And as far as audiophile feats and stunts on this one - listen to some of the humming and back and forth of the band members that come across behind the microphones.  The only format I could find was a CD version that was part of a double CD that also had Oscar Peterson's cover of West Side Story (the whole soundtrack, which is a fun album all by itself)

Two versions and the songs sound completely different.  Which is the "correct" or "definitive" version?  I can tell you Bill Evans is the most well known - but I really can't say.  Both are completely worth the price of admission - and both are in pretty heavy rotation at the moment!