One of the two most important associations in the early development of the incredible talent of Bill Evans was undoubtedly his nine-month 1958 stay with the Miles Davis Sextet that also included John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley. The other was the year-and-a-half span in which Scott LaFaro was the bassist in Bill s newly-formed trio and they developed their remarkable creative rapport, working towards what Evans termed simultaneous improvisation. Portrait in Jazz was the first of four albums by the Evans LaFaro Paul Motian team; in it can clearly be heard the exciting sound of new ideas being born.