Bill Evans Trio

Portrait in Jazz

First released1960

Portrait in Jazz was recorded by the Bill Evans Trio on February 2, 1959, at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The session was engineered and produced by Rudy Van Gelder, the legendary recording engineer who captured the intimate sound that became the album's signature characteristic. The album featured Evans on piano with Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums, recorded in a single session that exemplified Van Gelder's ability to capture live jazz performance in a studio setting. The recording's warm, immediate sound quality and the interplay between the trio members made it one of the most celebrated jazz albums of the era. The album was released by Riverside Records and became a landmark recording that defined the sound of modern jazz piano trio playing.