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.

"[4] 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's quartet.

In the meantime, he continued to develop his personal style as a sideman, recording with such important contemporaries as George Russell, Charles Mingus, Helen Merrill, Miles Davis, Michel Legrand, Cannonball Adderley, and Art Farmer.

[9] Although a critical success that gained positive reviews in DownBeat and Metronome magazines, New Jazz Conceptions was initially a financial failure, selling only 800 copies the first year.

[4] Writing for AllMusic, music critic Scott Yanow said about the album: "Bill Evans' debut as a leader found the 27-year-old pianist already sounding much different than the usual Bud Powell-influenced keyboardists of the time.