«Sunday at the Village Vanguard» is the first of two releases of the legendary recording session on June 25, 1961 in the New York jazz club of the same name. Bill Evans selected material for this album that pays tribute to his bassist Scott LaFaro, who died shortly afterwards. The Bill Evans Trio is widely regarded as one of the best jazz trios around, primarily due to the excellent, equal interaction of its musicians. Instead of just supporting the pianist rhythmically, LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian contribute to a dialogue on equal terms. You can hear this on My Man’s Gone Now, for example.
UHQCD stands for Ultimate High Quality Compact Disc and is a joint development of the Japanese CD replication company Memory-Tech and the Audio Quality CD Company from Hong Kong. Unlike conventional CDs, UHQCDs are not pressed from polycarbonate, but rather cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. Another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied to protect the softer photopolymer from scratching. The combination results in a significantly reduced reflection of the laser light inside the CD and an unmatched precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with normal CD players. Musically, the result is a sound that is strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.
