GVL Jazz: Joe Davidian Trio-The Lost Melody at Coffee Underground – Greenville, SC

The Greenville Jazz Collective Jazz Underground series presents the Joe Davidian Trio performing a tribute featuring the piano trio music of Bill Evans

Nearly all piano trios (piano, bass, and drums) playing today have somewhere “in their DNA” the sound of the many Bill Evans trios. What you’ll hear instead from Joe and his trio is a deep exploration of the music of Bill Evans from Joe’s experience both as a performer (playing for a number of years in major NYC clubs) and an educator (he leads the Jazz Studio at the Fine Arts Center here in Greenville).

Bill had led other piano trios, but his 1960-1961 trio with bassist Scott LeFaro and drummer Paul Motian took the level of interplay between trio members to a level unseen before in jazz, culminating in a series of famous recordings in June 1961 at the Village Vanguard before Scott’s untimely death. For the next 20 years until his own death, Bill continued performing in a piano trio format with other major bassists and drummers…but always working with a great deal of interplay within the trio.

Needless to say, presenting a tribute to Bill Evans is a demanding exploration. However, Joe has been exploring this great music for over 20 years, mastering the challenging dialog between piano, bass, and drums that the music of Bill Evans demands! Joining Joe in this exploration are Shannon Hoover on bass and Rick Dilling on drums. Both of them are uniquely suited to join Joe based upon their considerable musicality and subtlety.

The program will include repertoire from his entire piano career, but with a special focus on those magical years with Scott LeFaro and Paul Motian. So this will be a great evening of jazz, important to hear and a joy to listen to, and aligning perfectly with the mission of the Greenville Jazz Collective!

They’ll be performing in our venue, the Coffee Underground Theater, which is an intimate listening room which also serves homemade desserts, delicious coffee from beans roasted on premises, and an assortment of teas, wine, and cocktails.