Quintessence (Bill Evans album)

Quintessence
Studio album by Bill Evans
Released	August–September 1977
Recorded	May 27–30, 1976
Studio	Fantasy Studios, Berkeley
Genre	Jazz, post-bop, cool jazz
Length	42:56 (reissue)
Label	Fantasy F-9529 CD: Original Jazz Classics OJCCD 698-2
Producer	Helen Keane
Bill Evans chronology
Alone (Again) (1975) Quintessence (1977) Together Again (1976)

Quintessence is an album by American jazz pianist Bill Evans. It was recorded in 1976 for Fantasy Records and released the following year. At this time usually playing solo or with his trio, for these sessions Evans was the leader of an all-star quintet featuring Harold Land on tenor saxophone, guitarist Kenny Burrell, Ray Brown on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums.

Evans had never previously worked with Land, Burrell, or Brown,^[1] but the quintet instrumentation, with tenor sax and guitar, mirrors that of the second Interplay session of 1962.^[2] One track, "The Second Time Around," is played by trio only. As with many Evans albums from this period, it includes a selection by Michel Legrand, in this case "Martina," which Barbra Streisand had recorded in 1965.