The Bridgeport Jazz Trio

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The past never ends. We carry it

 in our hearts and heads and hands,

 away and back to Bridgeport in our memory,

the place the music came to for us all.

And so I’m with you, my friends,

with every note, with the same excitement

we felt listening to Bill on the great

Riverside albums. Listening to you three 

taking up his music, making it new, 

giving it back to him and us from out of the past

Bill Zavatsky

We are The Bridgeport Jazz Trio.

 • Bill’s Hit Tune. A late-1970s tune by Evans, it’s typical of the motivically economical (but harmonically expansive) music he wrote at the end of his career. The title surely had an ironic ring as gigs fell off due to the rise of rock. But Evans and his new trio continued to work, and posthumously, his music has become an even more enduring “hit,” as the ever-mounting stack of recordings––reissues and new discoveries––continues to demonstrate. 

• Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered. A great Rodgers and Hart standard from their show, “Pal Joey,” this tune has been recorded by many, but apparently not by Bill Evans!

• Never Say Never Again. The title tune from the James Bond movie of 1983 that marked Sean Connery’s return to the role, both the tune and score are by the movie composer and jazz pianist Michel Legrand. The title song and score debuted to mixed reviews, mainly because neither sounded like the expected Bond music. Both deserve better, especially the title tune.

• Moon and Sand. This tune, by Rochester, NY composer, Alec Wilder, in collaboration with record producer Morty Palitz and lyricist Bill Engvick, has become something of a favorite of jazz musicians lately, to judge by a number of relatively recent recordings. 

• I Loves You Porgy. A classic from Porgy and Bess by George and Ira Gershwin, the tune became identified with Evans after his performance of it at the Village Vanguard on the last night he and Scott LaFaro played together.

• One for Helen. Written by Evans very likely for his debut in 1966 in New York’s Town Hall (where it was first played), the title refers to his long-time manager and producer, Helen Keane, who was absolutely essential to the success of his career.

• RE: Person I Knew. Unique among Evans’s compositions, “RE: Person” has neither a real tune, nor even a bass line: rather, he concentrated on the inner parts of chords in the piano left hand, and the scales they implied. This is perhaps why Evans played it often as a searching and tentative opening to a set. After performances in the 60s, he eventually evolved a consistent “out-chorus” in the 70s so that the end of a performance was quite clear. The title is an anagram of the name “Orrin Keepnews,” one of the founders of Riverside Records, and Evans’s first producer.

• Tidal Breeze. This is one of the best-known tunes by composer and jazz pianist, Harold Danko, who has played with Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, among many on a long list of famous jazz musicians. Harold has also been a colleague of Bob’s at the Eastman School of Music for a number of years––now Professor Emeritus, like Bob.

• Remembering the Rain. Recorded only on “New Conversations” of 1978––Evans’s return to the over-dub format of “Conversations with Myself” (and “Further Conversations…”) from the 1960s, this tune is one of Evans’s most beautiful melodies. Why it’s been largely ignored, we don’t understand.

• Peri’s Scope. An early tune by Evans written for his girl friend at the time, Peri Cousins, Evans revived the tune periodically. It’s written in an unusual 3-phrase, 24-bar form.

• Time Remembered/B Minor Waltz. “Time Remembered” dates from the early 1960s, “B Minor Waltz” from the late 70s. The version of “Time Remembered” heard here is a published arrangement made by Bill Evans himself. The tune can be heard in B minor, though some claim that no key at all is associated with it. See what you think when you hear the two works paired like this. In any event, they’re like bookends, and make a fitting end to this tribute.

Bob Wason

Beginning his musical career as a composer and jazz pianist, Bob studied at the Hartt School of the University of Hartford (CT), and joined the Hartt Faculty in 1969. During those years he played many gigs with local musicians, and accompanied touring artists, such as Buck Clayton, Sammy Davis Jr., Bobby Vinton, and the Four Tops. In the mid 70s he went on to do work in music theory at Yale University (Ph.D. ’81), and also studied at the University of Vienna, Austria and the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna (Fulbright Scholar, 1979-80). A recipient of grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, the Paul Sacher Foundation, and the German Academic Exchange (DAAD), he has taught at Trinity College (Hartford), Clark University, the University of North Texas, and has been guest professor at the University of Basel (Switzerland), the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada), SUNY Buffalo, and Yale. However, he spent most of his career in the musically challenging––and nurturing––Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and is now Professor Emeritus of Music Theory and Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Jazz and Contemporary Media at Eastman.

Lou Bruno

Lou has worked as a professional bass player since the early 1960s, playing with both commercial and jazz groups. He attended the Manhattan School of Music where he received both BMus and MMus degrees. After his training at Manhattan, he was a member of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra for four seasons, but then moved to Vienna, Austria to study with Ludwig Streicher at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik (before Bob got there). On returning to NYC, he became a free-lance player, concentrating on both Broadway and concert work. Since his return to New York in the late 1970s he has been a member of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and American Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the New York Pops for more than twenty years. Among the many Broadway shows he has performed on are “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “End of the Rainbow,” and “Guys and Dolls.” Lou has also performed on the soundtracks to many major Hollywood films. He worked in Elaine Stritch’s band for eleven years on her one-woman Broadway show, “Elaine Stritch at Liberty,” and her night club appearances at the Carlyle Hotel, and he appears in the 2012 documentary film about her, entitled “Shoot Me.”

Albert Montecalvo

Albert Montecalvo retired from the Carmel School District, Carmel, NY, in 1998 where he was director of the middle and high school bands for 30 years and K-12 Director of Music for 9 years. In his young years he performed with a number of famous jazz musicians including Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Charlie Shavers and Coleman Hawkins as house drummer in a Danbury, CT jazz club. He has performed as drummer/percussionist with many local Connecticut orchestras, theater groups and big bands including the Ridgefield Symphony, Chappaqua Orchestra, Bridgeport Symphony, Danbury Symphony, the Downtown Cabaret Theater, Seven Angels Theater, and Musicals at Richter and Theater Works in New Milford. He also performs with the Sonny Carroll Big Band, the Norm Hathaway Broadway Big Band, and the Berkshire Big Band. Albert has been guest conductor of the Danbury Symphony on several occasions. He was also an adjunct music professor at Western Connecticut State University for four years, where he taught music education courses, conducted the Symphonic Band, and supervised student teachers. He is presently the director of the Western Connecticut Youth Wind Ensemble and the Danbury Music Centre Summer Band Program and has conducted the Broadway musicals at Ridgefield High School for 13 years.

The Bridgeport Jazz Trio, Through the Years

All photos above by Matt Dine

Notes on photos, below, in chronological order:

1. Lou and Bob, 1st or 2nd year of high school, c. 1960; photographer unknown.

2. Bob playing his “Winter spinet” practice piano that he bought with money earned by playing gigs on alto and tenor sax, his main instruments at the time; c. 1961; family photo.

3. Bob playing his Selmer Mk. VI tenor sax; mid-1960s; family photo. 

4. Bob composing, early to mid 1970s, Granby CT (photo, Elizabeth Raphael).

5. The John Mehegan Trio, with Lou Bruno, Bass, and Jimmy Isaacs, drums; Westport News, Aug. 25, 1966, photo by Heller.

6. The John Mehegan Trio with Zoot Simms on tenor sax, 1968; photographer unknown.

7. Lou in Italy, 1968, photo by Nick DeCandia.

8. Lou appearing in THE TREE, 1969, feature film directed by Robert Guenette; photographer unknown.

9. Lou with bass, 1981, photo by Don Palma.

10. Albert (second from left) in college with the University of Bridgeport Jazz Workshop Band; photo by Bob O’Connor.

11. Albert with the Sonny Carroll Big Band; photographer unknown.

12. Albert conducting a show at Ridgefield High School; photographer unknown.

13. BJT, “Bill Evans Retrospective,” Grace Church, White Plains, NY; Oct. 26, 2016; photo by Bill Zavatsky.

14. BJT, “Bill Evans Retrospective,” Grace Church, White Plains, NY; Oct. 26, 2016; photo by Bill Zavatsky.

15. BJT, “Bill Evans Retrospective,” Grace Church, White Plains, NY; Oct. 26, 2016; photo by Bill Zavatsky.

16. Break from recording in Kilbourn Hall, Eastman School of Music, 2017; photo by Matthew Brown.

17. Bob recording in Kilbourn Hall, 2017; photo by Matthew Brown.

18. Lou performing during photography session, 2017; photo by Matt Dine.

19. Albert performing during photography session, 2017; photo by Matt Dine.

20. BJT together after recording at Marty Fischer’s Studio, Great Barrington, MA, 2016; photo by Marty Fischer.