Editing New Jazz Conceptions (section)

==Background==
Evans was playing a gig with his old friend, the guitarist [[Mundell Lowe]], who had been recording for the newly emerging independent jazz label Riverside. Lowe played a demo tape featuring Evans over the phone to Riverside producer [[Orrin Keepnews]] and his partner, Bill Grauer, who were sufficiently impressed that they resolved to catch Evans playing live. After hearing him at the [[Village Vanguard]] several times, they offered him a recording contract at scale wages. Keepnews had some trouble persuading Evans to record{{mdash}}an ironic situation, as "usually, of course, it is the artist trying to persuade the producer."<ref>Pettinger, Peter, ''Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings'', Yale University Press (1998), pp. 35-36.</ref>

The album was recorded in two sessions on September 18 and 27, 1956.<ref>"Bill Evans Discography," https://www.jazzdisco.org/bill-evans/discography/, JAZZDISCO.org, Accessed 16 June 2024.</ref> Evans played three extremely brief solos: [[Duke Ellington]]'s "[[I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)]]," [[Richard Rodgers]]'s "[[My Romance (song)|My Romance]]," which would remain an integral part of Evans's repertoire and be recorded by him many times in trio settings, and the original version of his own most widely recognized and recorded composition, "[[Waltz for Debby (song)|Waltz for Debby]]."<ref name="AMB">Joel Simpson, [https://www.allaboutjazz.com/bill-evans-1929-1980-bill-evans-by-aaj-staff.php?page=1 "Bill Evans: 1929-1980"], ''[[All About Jazz]]'', August 27, 2004.</ref>

On the album, these solos were interspersed among eight trio recordings featuring bassist [[Teddy Kotick]] and drummer [[Paul Motian]], both of whom Evans had been playing with in [[Tony Scott (musician)|Tony Scott]]'s quartet.<ref>Pettinger, p. 36.</ref> Motian would go on to become a member of Evans's classic 1959{{ndash}}1961 trio with [[Scott LaFaro]]. The trio recordings included three more originals by Evans: "Five," "Displacement," and "No Cover, No Minimum," the first of which would become a regular part of his repertoire for the rest of his career.<ref>"Bill Evans Discography."</ref> Like many jazz tunes, "Five" is based on the chord changes of [[Gershwin]]'s "[[I Got Rhythm]]" and, unusually for Evans, it has an angularity reminiscent of the compositions of [[Thelonious Monk]];<ref>Shadwick, Keith, ''Bill Evans: Everything Happens to Me'', Backbeat Books (2002), p. 58.</ref> pianist [[Warren Bernhardt]], a close friend of Evans, noted that it's extremely difficult to play.<ref>Pettinger, p. 37.</ref>

''New Jazz Conceptions'' was Evans's sixth recording project overall, and he wouldn't allow himself to be coaxed back into the studio as a leader for another 27 months, for the seminal follow-up ''[[Everybody Digs Bill Evans]]''. In the meantime, he continued to develop his personal style as a sideman, recording with such important contemporaries as [[George Russell (composer)|George Russell]], [[Charles Mingus]], [[Helen Merrill]], [[Miles Davis]], [[Michel Legrand]], [[Cannonball Adderley]], and [[Art Farmer]].<ref>Pettinger, pp. 297-303.</ref>