Welcome to the fifth installment of The Jazz Guitar Chronicles. 

Bill Evans & Jim Hall 'Undercurrent'

If you just started reading The Jazz Guitar Chronicles, the idea is to share with you some of the most important jazz guitar players in our recorded jazz canon, as shared with me by my friend and superb jazz guitarist, David Gitlen, who has played and studied with some of the greats, like Joe Pass and Jim Hall, for example.   

So in essence, these albums are "insider" jazz guitarist recommendations, the jazz guitar albums that jazz guitarists like to listen to because of the great jazz guitar performances on them. 

Most of these recordings have quite good sound quality, but the recommendations are "for the music" first, and the "sound quality" is a secondary consideration.  

In this installment I want to tell you about the Undercurrent studio album from 1962 by Bill Evans and Jim Hall. 

Undercurrent has been a revered album since its release on the United Artists Jazz label in 1962, and Undercurrent has been reissued eighty different times due to its enduring popularity.

Why does Undercurrent remain so enduringly popular?

Bill Evans & Jim Hall 'Undercurrent'

Well for starters, it features duets by arguably the greatest jazz pianist and greatest jazz guitarist that ever walked Planet Earth, and every music lover should have it in their jazz collection.

My copy of Undercurrent is a CD - Blue Note ‎CDP 7 90583 2 - from 1988, that was remixed from the original three track tapes and transferred to digital by Malcolm Addey, and features three tracks that were previously unissued on the original LP: "Stairway to the Stars", "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You", and the alternate take of "Romain". 

Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Level Two Red Book CD player (left).

I've been listening to Undercurrent with the Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Level Two Red Book CD player (above, review HERE), which has an uncanny ability to turn all CDs into real music, while at the same time revealing a lot about the recording quality of different CDs.

As far as the recording quality goes, it's not bad, but its unlikely to thrill audiophiles looking for a big soundstage and an expansive sense of space, as the recording has both Bill Evans and Jim Hall clustered together in the center of the soundstage. 

However, all of the important aspects of the recording like timbre, tone color, etc., are all superb, and the high-resolution of the recording allows the listener to hear every little nuance of technique by Jim Hall and Bill Evans, which is very handy for figuring out exactly what Jim Hall was doing as he played on Undercurrent.

Music lovers and audiophiles will rejoice upon hearing Undercurrent, as the duets by Bill Evans and Jim Hall are of such excellence, grandeur, and beauty that they will win a permanent place in your heart for years to come.

As an example, the song "Romain" was written by Jim Hall, and Jim's soloing and comping are just mind-boggling good.

Jim's comping is so tasteful, and perfectly compliments Bill Evans soloing. Jim's soloing is absolutely superb, so liquid, so full of emotion, so beautiful tonally, and of course Bill Evans accompaniment is out of this world as well. 

It's not just "Romain" that's superb either, every song on the album is superb, which is of course the reason for the enduring popularity since its release in 1962.

System photo July 2021.

My current audio system configuration as I listen to Undercurrent is in preparation for an upcoming Positive Feedback article about the Audio Note (UK) Io I MC phono cartridge, the Audio Note (UK) AN-S4 silver step-up transformer, the Audio Note (UK) AN-V silver interconnects, and the Audio Note (UK) AN-SPe silver loudspeaker cables, that I am writing now.

I'm listening to the aforementioned Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Level Two Red Book CD player sending its signal through the Audio Note (UK) AN-V silver interconnects to the Audio Note (UK) Oto Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier, which is connected to the Duelund CAST crossovers of my Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers with the the Audio Note (UK) AN-SPe silver loudspeaker cables.

The overall musicality and sound quality is truly superb, and this 'mostly' Audio Note (UK) system really delivers a wonderfully satisfying musical experience while listening to Undercurrent as I write this post. 

Many thanks to David Gitlen for teaching me about jazz guitar, and for sharing such wonderful albums of jazz guitar with all of us!

You can see the previous albums from The Jazz Guitar Chronicles at the links below:

• Joe Pass in Hamburg HERE.
• Two For The Road with Joe Pass and Herb Ellis HERE.
• The Complete Pacific Jazz Joe Pass Quartet Sessions HERE.
• Three for the Road with Ed Bickert HERE.

Be sure to get a copy of Undercurrent for your collection, it will deliver great listening joy for years to come!

Ok, that's it for now.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!