Bill Evans: Let the Juice Loose
Track
Let the Juice Loose
Artist
Bill Evans (sax)
CD
Let the Juice Loose – Bill Evans Group Live at Blue Note Tokyo (JazzCity PCCY 00054)
Musicians:
Bill Evans (sax), Chuck Loeb (guitar),
Jim Beard (keyboards), Darryl Jones (bass), Dennis Chambers (drums)
.Composed by Bill Evans
.Recorded: live in Tokyo, Japan, September 9, 1989
Rating: 91/100 (learn more)
Poor Bill Evans. His whole musical life, he has had to be identified as "Bill Evans (sax)" to distinguish him from that other Bill Evans. If he was in any other line of work, such parenthetical ID would not be needed. You would never see "Bill Evans (fisherman)" or "Bill Evans (plumber)."
There was no one more in the middle of the '80s fusion revival than Bill Evans (sax). He starred early in the decade with Miles Davis, joined John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu and then went on to play with many of the genre's best musicians, including Dennis Chambers, Mark Egan and Danny Gottlieb. He also made several outstanding studio albums as leader. Living in the Crest of a Wave and The Alternative Man were the best of them.
If Bill Evans (sax) had written "Let the Juice Loose" in 1995, the title would have had an entirely different and unintended meaning. But he wrote it about ten years earlier. On this night in Tokyo, the band rips though the tune. It is a real joyride of funk, rock and jazz. Its head arrangement is head-bopping. "Let the Juice Loose" changes directions about six times. Evans (sax) is a strong soloist here. Jones's crowd- pleasing slap-bass solo is supported by Chambers's forceful pounding. There is a scorching solo from Loeb. There is some heavy-duty musicianship going on here! A calming but insistent riff ends the festivities and brings a large and thankful response from the Tokyo crowd.
Reviewer: Walter Kolosky
Tags: 1980s jazz · fusion
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