Bill Evans – Behind The Dikes: The 1969 Netherlands Recordings

In June '21 I ed on this at RSD because I "had enough Bill Evans" already(as if). The next year, I found a new copy but the price had doubled. Then while streaming, I happened to hear Emily from this recording and realized I needed this album. Finally got a copy and paid a for it.

You know the drill, this is BET with Eddie and Marty, yes you've heard Waltz for Debby & Autumn Leaves on every live recording from this era. That's okay, every time they bring the magic. Highlights are '"Round Midnight" with the killer intro, and a more traditional swinging version of "I Let A Song". I know W4D was immortalized by Scott LaFaro, but Gomez' bass solo on this piece is technical and energetic.

[#2088] The packaging is beautiful with crisp graphics, pristine beautifully pressed vinyl. Two of my discs have a slight dish warp, and after cleaning there's some light crackle here and there.
Audio is good. A few points off for some comb phasing effect happening on the piano, possibly from the miking technique or some out of tune strings. This is evident throughout side A. Otherwise, bass is present and the drums are mixed higher than some of the other Marty Morell BET recordings I have. The best sounding audio/mix on the record is "Granados", really raising the bar.
This one's a winner IF you don't have to break the bank.
4.5 stars.

Analogue or digitized I don't know but these LPs are a state of the art issues musically and sonically of those phenomenal concerts done in 1969. All the musicians play at their peak. Five stars plus

Digital source or analogue for the vinyl? “Mastered by Bernie Grundman”. Cool, but no “from the original analogue tapes”. No worries as it sounds great, but at these prices one should know exactly what you are buying. Enjoy.

I also have a non-numbered copy. Everything other (booklet, stickers and matrix are the same). I bought it from the seller that said he received it as a promo. Also I saw in sale two another copies without number: one with word "promo" wrote by hand and one more with sticker promo on the field for the number. So, I'm thinkg, there were a little bit more copies than 5950.

No number on mine, 1st and 3rd lps are perfect, lp 2 side 2 has non fill on 2nd track but apart from that is fine. Great performances, I had lp 3 as a Euro grey area lp this one : Bill Evans - In Concert - Autumn Leaves
https://www.discogs.sie.com/release/13951113-Bill-Evans-In-Concert-Autumn-Leaves

And this smokes it of course.

Excellent recording. Memorable performances in a good job of recovering the original tapes. Includes an extensive booklet with interviews. A delight

Based on the music and playing alone, this album should be considered as essential as any of BE's top Riverside albums. The good news continues with the recording and mastering, in one word, superlative; it rivals and in some instances exceeds the sound quality of my AP Riverside boxset.

The weak link in this production is the pressing; it has a relatively moderate to high noise floor which is noticeable in quiet ages, we are certainly not dealing with audiophile vinyl formulation, again noise issue is only present in quiet ages. Even with the less than stellar pressing quality, this album is a must have if you are fan of BE or quite frankly music in general.

I must have received the worst pressing of the entire RSD batch. I got number 559 which you would think would be really good but all three LP’s are a disaster. LP number 2 is terribly warped. All three have bad distortion in different areas especially on the piano. Side F has what sounds like tape warble. It’s only good in that it is a great set of sessions by fabulous musicians. I might as well be listening to one of the bootlegs.

great record. great pressing quality. Have no problems with mine... sounds great.

When I received it I discovered (too late) that disc 1 (sides A/B) is missing; I have disc 2 (sides C/D) and two copies of disc 3 (sides E/F).
Anyone has two copies of disc 1 and/or is missing disc 3 and want to trade?