Those sessions, which produced The Bill Evans Trio recordings, Live at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby solidified Lafaro's style that was unusual, in that he used a counter melody style.
At the time it seemed as if Evans and LaFaro were switching rolls, with pianist Evans playing rhythm and LaFaro leading the trio. The interplay between LaFaro, Evans, and drummer Paul Motion is nearly telepathic.
In my opinion those Village Vanguard sessions are the finest recording of piano trio jazz ever recorded. Anything can happen, very free flowing music.
While I usually start to yawn when some sort of brass or reed instrument is not used, these 1961 Vanguard recordings are a big exception for me.
The three musicians are at the top of their game in every respect, and the coalescence is quite exciting. In my life of musical discovery, it is always so incredible when you discover music like this, and realize the music in this case is over 40 years old at discovery, now over 50 years old.
Lafaro would be gone just 6 months after the Coleman Free Jazz session.
LaFaro also around this time replaced, or joined Bassist Charlie Haden in the Ornette Coleman Quartet.
LaFaro played alongside Haden in the double quartet on the avant-garde jazz classics Free Jazz, Twins, Ornette, and The Art of the Improvisors.
LaFaro completely changed the instrument's use, the bass was not just thought of as just a rhythmic tool anymore, he stretched the boundaries of what a bassist was allowed to do, just as others like Jimmy Blanton.
Charles Mingus had done it, and bassists Like Ron Carter and Jaco Pastorius would do it later in the 60's and 70's respectively.
So for me, LaFaro is a sort of "missing link" between Mingus and Carter. Jazzers, as well as serious students of the bass probably will be familiar with Lafaro.
If you have a bias against jazz, or trio jazz, you owe it to yourself to at least pick up the Bill Evans Vanguard Sessions. You will be amazed.
La Faro: A Short career but a dynamic one
It's a shame to have such an innovative musician's life snuffed out at such a young age. LaFaro was in on so many of the most groundbreaking music of the era.
Scott played on 4 Ornette Coleman albums as mentioned, with Free Jazz being one of the real game changers in jazz. But it will always be the near telepathic trio performances with drummer Paul Motian and pianist Bill Evans At The Village Vanguard that will be etched into the psyche of modern jazz for ever.
LaFaro and Evans were probably musical soul mates, much the same way Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn were, perhaps even more so as the interplay was nearly telepathic.
It was related by drummer Paul Motion, that Evans never really did get over the death of LaFaro. 25 years old and so much promise, only to have it end in a car accident was a bitter pill to swallow.
Bill Evan's interview about the death of Scott LaFaro
I ran into a fine article from a modern day bassist who describes his emotions upon discovering Scott LaFaro for the first time. It's worth checking out.
His Prescott Bass, and what might have been?
Scott Lafaro played a double bass made in 1825 in Concord New Hampshire Made by Abraham Prescott, with various custom woods.
The bass had rolled corners on the bottom and sloped shoulders on the top, this enabled LaFaro to get in and out of the thumb position, which certainly aided his ability and helped shape his unorthodox style.
You will have to search far and wide to find anything with LaFaro as a band leader. He was but 25 years old at the time of his death, he was just getting started of course.
One release has made it to the shelves, Resonance Records has released a CD of trio recordings featuring LaFaro, along with drummer Pete LaRoca and pianist Don Friedman, with a 20 plus minute practice tape of LaFaro and Bill Evans rehearsing "My Foolish Heart". You can check that out above below the introduction.
I wonder what style of music LaFaro would have been playing today? Do you believe he would have gone the fusion jazz route? Perhaps he could have ended up in the Davis quintet, or the Coltrane quartet?
Maybe he would have developed a new style of jazz or jazz rock, who knows? That's the real tragedy musically, not knowing what me we might have missed out on.
Reportedly,
Video of Scott LaFaro playing his Prescott Bass
*Images used with permission via Amazon.com*
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