West Coast Guitarist Jim Witzel and his Quartet Mine the Music of Bill Evans on Very Early

 Guitarist Jim Witzel and his Quartet's Very Early : Remembering Bill Evans

Jim Wetzil Quartet: Very Early: Remembering Bill Evans: Joplin &Sweeney Records

The West Coast guitarist Jim Witzel is a new player to me. I was introduced to Witzel’s Quartet work on his latest release Very Early: Remembering Bill Evans out on the Joplin Sweeney label released August of 2025. I don’t always get a chance to listen to all of the music I receive in a timely manner, so my getting hip to this album now is no excuse. Better late than never.

Jim Witzel’s Very Early is a fresh look at some of the music that pianist Bill Evans’ incorporated into his repertoire. These songs were either written by Evans, or were penned by others, but they became invaluable vehicles of creative inspiration for the pianist over his career.  Credit Witzel and his pianist/co-arranger Phil Aaron for selectively choosing nine important compositions that beautifully represent the essence of Evans musical psyche.

I often find it helpful to learn a little of the history of an artist like Jim Witzel, to better understand what factors he encountered on his trip that helped him find his own musical voice. Witzel was brought up in the North Bay area town of San Rafael and picked up guitar at the age of twelve. He recalls three albums that made an indelible impression of him as a young aspiring guitarist- Wes Montgomery’s Boss Guitar, Jim Hall & Rob Carter’s Alone Together, and Pat Metheny’s Bright Size Life. He clearly had a good ear and excellent taste even back then.

Jim Witzel (photo credit unknown)

Jim took Creative Arts studies with a Music emphasis at San Franciso State University, where he had a chance to study with alto saxophonist John Handy.  He led his own jazz quartet, hosted and performed on a weekly television show “Jazz After Midnight,” and received a travel grant from the National Endowment of the Arts which allowed him to study with guitar great Jack Wilkins in New York and Howard Roberts in Los Angeles. Witzel eventually relocated to Los Angeles where he free-lanced in jazz groups, offered private guitar lessons to aspiring guitarists, and took a few private lessons with guitarists John Abercrombie and Joe Iorio. In 1992, Jim released an album titled Give and Take with bassist John Patitucci and drummer Ralph Penland, also featuring guests like John Abercrombie, saxophonist Ernie Watts, keyboardist Russel Ferrante and bassist Marc Johnson. All these experiences added to Witzel’s rapid maturation as a respected and talented jazz guitarist.

Witzel eventually returned to the Bay area, and besides being an active performer, he is currently a faculty member at Santa Clara University where he is a Professor of Jazz Studies.

Jim and pianist Phil Aaron have been collaborating since the late nineties. On this latest album, Very Early: Remembering Bill Evans, Witzel and Aaron are joined by Dan Feiszli on bass and Jason Lewis on drums.

The music opens with Victor Young’s classic “Beautiful Love.” The song preserves Evans’ probing approach to the composition’s melodicity that the pianist always strove to maintain for the listener, while still exploring   harmonic grounds that could surprise and delight. Witzel and company accomplish these goals while retaining their own contemporary voice throughout.  Witzel’s playing on his Gibson ES165 single pick-up guitar recalls the warm tone of Jim Hall. Aaron’s piano accompaniment is tactile, energized and on point.  Feiszli and Lewis swing with confident aplomb. In one break, the two trade lines,  bass and brushed snare work interchange, that impressively communicate a sense of intuition.

The set includes the less familiar “How My Heart Sings”, an Earl Zindars composition, which was first heard on Evans’ album of the same name from 1964.  The quartet also does their own take on Steve Swallow’s “Falling Grace,” which was first heard on vibraphonist Gary Burton’s album from 1966 The Time Machine. True to Evans approach to this song, first recorded by Bill on Intuition from 1975, Witzel's group abandon the ethereal approach that Burton and Swallow first envisioned and follow the pianist’s vision. They open with Witzel’s probing guitar lines, a Metheny-inspired exploration on the theme, as the band carry the circuitous route. Witzel explores the terrain with horizontal lines that seem to emerge from the ether.  Feiszli’s throbbing bass lines are strong and sustained. Aaron’s piano solo is inventive and joyful, while Lewis’ drum work is propulsive. Worth the price of admission.

Miles Davis is the listed composer of “Solar” first recorded on his album Miles Davis Quintet from 1954, but allegedly this was composed by the guitarist Chuck Wayne. Evans’ released, to many consider the seminal version of this song, on his album Bill Evans Trio Sunday at the Village Vanguard, from NYC in 1961. The song became a frequent part of the pianist’s repertoire. On Witzel’s version, Lewis’s drum set opens with a declaratory roll, before Feiszli’s walking bass lines add to the excitement and pace. Aaron’s piano is the first to explore his own harmonic ideas that swirl over the rhythm section. Witzel’s guitar lines enter with a fluidity that charms and impresses. The ideas that come out of Jim’s guitar percolate from an internal well of inventiveness that never runs dry. Toward the coda, the group executes some stop/starts that surprise and add to the kineticism and excitement of this great take.

The title cut Bill Evans’ “Very Early” is a beautiful ballad that oscillates from one musical idea to another in a repeating theme. The catchy theme tattoos to your mind as Witzel’s guitar lines lead you through the garden of thoughts. Aaron’s piano is the first to solo on the theme, expanding on the possibilities over this repeating melody. Witzel takes his turn using variously conceived, ascending and descending lines to accentuate his take this on this theme. Feiszli’s pizzicato bass work here adds a third interpretation.

“Israel” is a composition written by trumpeter/composer John Carisi and first heard on Miles Davis Birth of the Cool album from 1949. This minor blues tune was an important part of Bill Evans playing repertoire and here Witzel and bandmates execute this memorable piece with style and confidence. These guys swing on this one, led by Feiszli’s booming bass and Lewis’ responsive drum work. Aaron is the first soloist who mines some imaginative, blues-inspired improvisations in a trio of Feiszli’s bass and Lewis’s trap work.  It’s Witzel’s Wes-inspired guitar lines that take this tune into another orbit. Jim’s facility is marvelous and his fretboard ideas never seem to disappoint. Another example of how Evans’ repertoire still offers endless possibilities to creative artists.

This excellent album continues with Leonard Bernstein’s moving 1944 ballad “Some Other Time.”   Miles Davis composition “Nardis” includes a plucky opening pizzicato solo entre from Feiszli, and some great interplay by this intuitive group.  One my favorites Evan’s compositions “Peri’s Scope,” finishes of this album.

I first heard on his Portraits in Jazz with Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motion on drums from 1959. Witzel and company chooses to give this one a Latin rhythmic feel. Opening with Lewis’ syncopated stick work, the group takes it out with Witzel’s guitar leading the way into the ozone. Aaron’s piano spices things up with his own Latinized ideas as the rhythm section maintains the pulse energizing the melody to the finale.