Bill Evans recorded the 1961 live album Sunday at the Village Vanguard with his trio.
The album documents performances at New York City's Village Vanguard on June 25, 1961. Evans played piano with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian, the trio that had developed an unusually interactive approach to jazz performance. Rather than treating the bass as only a time-keeping instrument, the group gave all three players substantial melodic and rhythmic roles.
Sunday at the Village Vanguard was released by Riverside Records later in 1961. Its repertoire includes “Gloria's Step,” “My Man's Gone Now,” and “Alice in Wonderland.” The recording is especially important because it captures one of the trio's final performances with LaFaro.
LaFaro died in a car accident on July 6, 1961, only 11 days after the Village Vanguard engagement. A companion album, Waltz for Debby, was drawn from the same performances, which sometimes causes the two releases to be confused.