This 1977 recording by Mr. Evans will instantly make you want to grab a hot piping cup of coffee, The Prophet, and wish you could play the piano all at the same time. I’m sure Bill Evans can. The soothing, sultry sounds of You Must Believe in Spring, which Bill Evans co-produced with Tommy LiPuma, will hit the spot of your innermost musical desires. All seven tracks of the Rhino/Warner Bros LP album are affirmations to why it’s so hard to put inspiring and beautifully mesmerizing music into words.
It is also hard to believe how hopeful the sounds of his piano can be considering his death only four years later on September 15, 1980. Evan’s struggles with substance abuse in previous years must have given him the courage and willpower to stay creative and free as his fingers hit those keys. His battle with depression, like many other jazz musicians of his era, must have allowed him to open even bigger and more ingeniously inspirational doors with this album.
The easy, breezy flow from “We Will Meet Again (For Harry)” into “The Peacocks” will fool you. Especially in “The Peacocks” is it hard to not notice the deep sighs of the bass cello below Evans’ boundless flying fingers. Listening to way he configures minor and major scales and chords together so perfectly will make you feel like you were the one who found the key to the Secret Garden.
“Theme from M*A*S*H” also known as “Suicide is Painless” is a complete contradiction for a complete 5 minutes and 55 seconds. You are able to feel the agony and mental suffering Evans pours into the piano, yet the sound is incredulously merry. “We Will Meet Again”, which is dedicated to his brother Harry who took his life two years prior, also has this rare ability to suck out your emotional energy and pull you into his music.
The song “For Elaine” is the most perfect introduction to …Spring. The only disappointment on the album is that “B Minor Waltz” seems too timid a title for such a surprisingly powerful piece. You may not be quite ready when you enter the album… you indeed do feel as though you’re entering another world… the season of spring, perhaps? In fact, “You Must Believe in Spring” is ambitiously optimistic as it is breathtaking. The upbeat tempo mirrors the hustle and bustle of New York City during the Harlem Renaissance. This track contrasts as charmingly as Evans must be himself with the lingering pace of “Gary’s Theme”. Although his melodies on this track are calm and shy, they are no less moving. The addition of the drum’s symbol makes this “theme” song more of a lullaby. Goodnight Gary…
Evans could not have picked a better title for the Technicolor sounds of “The Peacocks”. His beats are head-bops, not bebop. The improvisational chromatics paints the picture of cool sultry peacocks slyly moving about a saturated green pasture.
Bill Evans is a gem, an innovative pioneer in the jazz world. He uses techniques such as polyrhythmic and syncopated melodies to flip-flop traditional jazz into his very own language. In fact, a colleague within the jazz league, you may know him as Miles Davis, was a breakthrough soul as well. They must have influenced each other for both repaint jazz with many shades of the rainbow.
One may start to wonder why it is the most troubled and mentally tormented jazz musicians who produce the most comforting and striking music. Bill Evans’ You Must Believe in Spring single-handedly makes you not only hopeful for the rebirth of spring, but also hopeful for your own life and yourself, however trivial your trials may be.
