DESCRIPTION:
An Evening with Eddie Gomez is the latest release in the Thirty-Six Walker Street Prods./David Gage String Instruments Masterclass Series. Produced in collaboration with Telling Pictures and filmed live at David Gage's shop by Academy Award-Winning Director Rob Epstein, this DVD is a landmark venture in instructional/performance video for bass.

Eddie Gomez is one of the most recognized names in jazz bass. His solo works, as well as his collaborations with luminaries such as Bill Evans, Chick Corea, and Paul Bley are an important part of the canon of jazz music. In this video he engages a live audience of professional bassists, amateurs, students, and enthusiasts.

Rob Epstein won Best Feature-Length Documentary Oscars for The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) and Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989). His work on this project is both subtle and sure. He leaves Mr. Gomez the room he needs to express himself while maintaining a compelling perspective on the music and spontaneous discussion.

Mr. Gomez lectures and invites the audience to ask questions about his life, his playing technique, and his overall musical concept. When describing his ideas, basic principles are given the same care as the most complicated techniques. He not only demonstrates technical aspects of bass playing, but he lends insight into the life of a professional bassist.

The performances on this disk are spontaneous and heart-felt. Mr. Kramer's sensitivity at the piano is unparalleled; he truly understands the bass and is conspicuously comfortable playing with Eddie Gomez. The bass playing is sensuous and lyrical, as is to be expected from Mr. Gomez. In this live setting, however, the improvisation is uniquely fluid.

This DVD marks a new era in videos for bassists and music enthusiasts alike.