Peace Piece

Evans recorded it on December 15, 1958 at Reeves Sound Studios, with Orrin Keepnews producing. It was improvised at the end of the session, built on a two-chord progression, Cmaj7 to G9sus4, that he had used earlier that day in Bernstein's "Some Other Time"; the left hand repeats the ostinato and the melody above it is free and ornamented, with more discordant notes in the later half. One account says it grew out of an intended introduction to "Some Other Time" that developed its own identity, and Keepnews was present. Chuck Israels called it an example of the depth of Evans's compositional technique. Chopin's Berceuse in D-flat shares a two-chord left-hand ostinato.

Its opening reappears in "Flamenco Sketches" on Kind of Blue, which Davis recorded in 1959; Davis liked the piece and wanted to reuse it. Evans felt it was an inspiration of the moment that would lose its value if repeated, by one reported account, and Wikipedia says he played it in public only once, with the Bill Evans Dance Company in Seattle in 1978, at Meany Hall at the University of Washington on March 17 and 18 by a snippet we could not open, so that date is not relied on. PopMatters's Matt Cibula called it about as close to perfect as anything ever recorded.

Pianists including Richie Beirach, Liz Story, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Igor Levit have recorded it, the Kronos Quartet made a string version in 1985, and Lady Blackbird's "Fix It" (2021) uses it as its base. It was used in films including Love 65 (1965) and Jack Goes Boating (2010). No chart history was found, and our upload is presumed to be the 1958 recording.