Evans' cover of the Disney classic "Someday My Prince Will Come" beats Miles Davis' better known rendition by a couple of years. It is likewise played as a waltz, and Evans dances all around the main theme of the song while LaFaro and Motian form a tight foundation that makes Bill's flights of fancy possible.

"Blue In Green" closes out the "originally issued" lineup of selections. This ballad, of course is the same recorded months earlier on Miles' Kind Of Blue, also featuring Evans on piano. While "Blue" is normally accredited to Davis and Davis alone, for Portrait it's co-credited to Evans, at Evans own insistence. Evans had later claimed in an interview that the composition was written entirely by him (one of the few times Evans was known to be unabashed about anything) and given the comparison of this tune to ones credited to him like "Time Remembered," it really fits his composing style better than it does Miles'.

Regardless, "Blue In Green" is transcendent in its depth and beauty and even though two other takes are appended to this collection at the end, I can't get enough versions of this song. As in the earlier session with Miles, Evans playing is genuinely affecting but in the right doses. The Miles' version still gets the slight nod for the trumpet player's gorgeously expressive statements on it, but LaFaro's equally lyrical lines brings these recordings nearly up to the level of the original.

As with all old jazz records that are reissued and remastered on CD, this one gets supplemented with a handful of the best alternate takes. The forth take of "Come Rain Or Come Shine" presented here is good, but does sound a little flat compared to the chosen fifth take. There's the aforementioned two extra versions of "Blue In Green." The ninth take of "Autumn Leaves," although recorded in mono only, is chosen because this version was believed to be superior to any of the versions captured in stereo.

Like its predecessor Everybody Digs Bill Evans, Portrait falls under one of Evans' more transitional recordings. But as it is with the records by towering figures such as Miles, Coltrane and Monk, to name a few, the transitions were usually far more intriguing and of better quality than the best works of lesser artists. As the starting point for that short journey to the fabled Village Vanguard Recordings, this record is worth the purchase for that reason alone.

The 24-bit remastering, the inclusion of previously-unreleased takes and Keepnews' fascinating first-hand accounts contained within the updated liner notes provide reasons to get Portrait a second time.