Clap Hands

Clap Hands

Steve Evans, vocals; Jake Vinsel, bass; Noritaka Tanaka, drums; Leandro Lopez Varady, piano According to the booklet notes on his new 2-CD set, jazz vocalist Steve Evans originally intended to release a live recording of his quartet, but “technical difficulties” intervened. So instead he imposed strict restrictions on his studio process in the hopes of… Read more »

Written By

Frank J. Oteri

Frank J. Oteri is an ASCAP-award winning composer and music journalist. Among his compositions are Already Yesterday or Still Tomorrow for orchestra, the "performance oratorio" MACHUNAS, the 1/4-tone sax quartet Fair and Balanced?, and the 1/6-tone rock band suite Imagined Overtures. His compositions are represented by Black Tea Music. Oteri is the Vice President of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) and is Composer Advocate at New Music USA where he has been the Editor of its web magazine, NewMusicBox.org, since its founding in 1999.

Steve Evans, vocals; Jake Vinsel, bass; Noritaka Tanaka, drums; Leandro Lopez Varady, piano

According to the booklet notes on his new 2-CD set, jazz vocalist Steve Evans originally intended to release a live recording of his quartet, but “technical difficulties” intervened. So instead he imposed strict restrictions on his studio process in the hopes of recreating the conditions necessary to have a “live” sound. And it worked! As does Earle’s idiosyncratic choice of repertoire which extends well beyond standards to include songs by Tom Waits and Nick Drake, as well as jazzifications of classical compositions by Britten and Rodrigo. Having never been a fan of the singing of Tom Waits but liking a lot of his material, I’m also thrilled to hear his “Clap Hands” sung by someone with great pipes: check out Evans’s breathtaking high note on the sample we’re featuring here.