| Jazz |
An Unearthed Treasure: Ryan Truesdell Revives the Timeless Music of Gil Evans in Shades of Sound
Here is an album of rare depth and resonance. With Shades of Sound, producer Ryan Truesdell once again opens the drawer of history to breathe new life into the music of Gil Evans. And once again, what strikes the listener is how the arrangements, while infused with a modern sensibility, preserve the soul of the originals, making the music feel as urgent and contemporary as ever.
Following in the footsteps of Centennial (2012) and Lines of Color (2015) both Grammy-nominated and critically acclaimed this new release continues Truesdell’s meticulous exploration of Evans’s vast and often overlooked repertoire. Shades of Sound is also the Gil Evans Project’s first-ever vinyl release, and features some of New York’s most dazzling talents: Lewis Nash, Donny McCaslin, Steve Wilson, Ryan Keberle, Wendy Gilles, and the late Frank Kimbrough.
Recorded live between May 13 and 18, 2014, during the ensemble’s annual residency at the Jazz Standard, the album was engineered by Grammy-winner James Farber, with Tyler McDiarmid and Geoff Countryman assisting. The live setting is not incidental; it is essential. Truesdell deliberately chose it to echo the spirit of Evans’s work music born in the moment, shaped by the alchemy of real-time performance.
“It allows Evans’s colors and harmonies to blend into the room in a way you simply can’t recreate in a studio,” Truesdell explains. “Live recording captures that intangible energy that only comes from interacting with an audience.”
The album features four previously unrecorded works “Laughing at Life,” “It’s The Sentimental Thing To Do,” “I Had Someone Else Before I Had You,” and “Neetie’s Blues” alongside four of Evans’s iconic arrangements: “Spoonful,” “The Ballad of the Sad Young Men,” “Barbara Song,” and “Buster’s Last Stand.” The result is a compelling musical tapestry, at times bordering on free jazz, yet always anchored by Evans’s deep sense of form and lyricism.
The trumpet solos, in particular, evoke the ghost of a bygone era no one writes lines like these anymore, and therein lies the album’s nostalgic pull. “Revisiting this music is a bittersweet experience,” says Truesdell. “It’s hard to listen without picturing Frank Kimbrough, tucked away at the piano, savoring every shade and shift. But it’s an honor to keep the memory of his brilliance, humor, and adventurous spirit alive.”
From the first note to the last, Shades of Sound casts a spell. Gil Evans like any great literary figure is an artist we are constantly rediscovering. His music, so meticulously composed and emotionally layered, belongs not only to the history of jazz, but to the history of humanity itself. Born in 1912 and passing in 1988, one can only imagine the breadth of inspiration he drew from a life lived alongside the likes of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, and countless other legends.
As with all true jazz, the echoes of these influences are never far. They ripple through the solos, shimmer in the ensemble work, and remind us that jazz is a living, breathing art of shared inheritance. Pour yourself a bourbon, sink into a well-worn armchair, and let this extraordinary music unfold as richly and reverently as it was meant to be heard.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor for All About Jazz
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, April 23rd 2025
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Musicians: Ryan Truesdell, Lewis Nash, Donny McCaslin, Steve Wilson, Ryan Keberle, Wendy Gilles et Frank Kimbrough.
Tracklist:
Spoonful
The Ballad Of The Sad Young Men
Laughing At Life
Neetie’s Blues
I Had Someone Else Before I Had You
The Barbara Song
It’s The Sentimental Thing To Do
Buster’s Last Stand