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Bill Evans

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:

Bill Evans

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Bill Evans
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(born Aug. 16, 1929, Plainfield, N.J., U.S.died Sept. 15, 1980, New York, N.Y.) U.S. pianist and composer, one of the most influential musicians in modern jazz. Evans was classically trained and influenced by pianists Bud Powell, Horace Silver, and Lennie Tristano. His subtle harmonies and lyrical melodic sensitivity were particularly well suited to modal improvisation, demonstrated on the landmark Miles Davis recording Kind of Blue (1959). As leader of his own trio, Evans established extraordinary communication with his fellow musicians, creating music of rare depth and introspection. His best-known composition is Waltz for Debby.

For more information on Bill Evans, visit Britannica.com.

American Heritage Dictionary:

Evans, William John

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(Known as "Bill.") 1929-1980.

American jazz pianist known for his lyrical style. He recorded with Miles Davis and Charles Mingus and formed his own trio in 1959.


Gale Musician Profiles:

Bill Evans

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Pianist, bandleader, composer

And when he touched the keys, he’d turn out all the stars/Oh, how his heart could sing!/His song will live forever, even though his voice is still/ I hear the music, feel the magic/Always, I remember Bill." So sang Susannah McCorkle in a beautiful rendition of Don Sebesky’s musical tribute to pianist Bill Evans.

To the careful listener, Evans’s sound is almost always instantly recognizable. He has been called "the poet" "the first player who ‘filled’ romanticism with modern tension" "a gifted and sensitive composer" a player who "not only sounds the time and spins the melody, but [who] also gives each piece a particularity—a depth of color—and a center of emotional gravity that make many other pianists sound rather thin by comparison." Critics and fellow musicians invariably refer to his tone— his sound—in attempting to describe the music of Bill Evans, probably the most influential jazz pianist since Bud Powell in bebop’s heyday. Many elements combine to create this sound, not the least of which include the life experiences and personality of the artist.

Though others have attempted to explain the magic of Evans, this often painfully shy, meditative musician is widely quoted on his own playing, giving us some clues to his inner thoughts. His reputation for reclusiveness and introspection grows out of his early reluctance to record on his own ("I don’t have very much talent," he once said), the intimate sheen of his compositions, and his physical presence at the piano: head bent over the keyboard, intensely focused, seeming to bea part of the instrument. Only in his lateryears—afterworking steadily for a quarter of a century, with awards and accolades piling up, and with a legacy of approximately 50 albums—did Evans begin to acknowledge his own unique contributions to music.

A Natural on the Keys
Evans studied piano at age six, soon adding violin and flute to his arsenal, but he later claimed "it was always the piano." Disdaining formal practice as a child, he worked his way through stacks of used sheet music marches, songs, and classical music that his mother had bought. Thus did he acquire a skill at sight reading that served him all his life. He earned a scholarship to Southeastern Louisiana College and in 1950 was awarded degrees both in music (as a piano major) and in music education. Though he often avoided the specific exercises prescribed in college courses, he regularly demonstrated his ability to play the concepts those exercises were purported to teach by encompassing them in his playing of compositions. With uncharacteristic bravado, he told writer/lyricist Gene Lees, "They couldn’t flunk me because I played the instrument so well."

Not that Evans was avoiding playing or learning. He was as studious as his early professorial photographs depicted, making up for his own perceived "lack of talent" through hard work. Well into his career, Evans told Lees, "It’s just that I’ve played such a quantity of piano. Three hours a day in childhood, six hours a day in college, and at least six hours now." While playing jazz, "spontaneous music," he called it, at every opportunity, Evans also knew the "contemplative" repertoire: Johann Sebastian Bach, Aleksandr Scriabin, Frederic Chopin, Darius Mil-haud, Igor Stravinsky. He once sight-read Russian composer Sergey Rachmaninoff’s piano preludes at their marked tempos. His music reflected the deep understanding that this intense study produced; his considerable technique always served the music rather than being an end in itself.

As a high school student in the late 1940s Evans began playing local dance jobs in bands of various configurations, sometimes as the leader, often with the better adult jazz players. Always he was an avid listener. As a youngster he appreciated boogie woogie but was moved by pianists like Earl Hines, Nat "King" Cole, Bud Powell, Horace Silver, and George Shearing and by instrumentalists such as tenorist Stan Getz, altoist Charlie Parker, and trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. Evans reportedly told Marian McPartland in a 1978 interview on her National Public Radio Piano Jazz program, "[Our band] played opposite Nat Cole at the Renaissance Ballroom in Harlem. I wrote my brother… ‘I sat at the same piano and played the same keys that Nat Cole played. It was reverential.’"

Throughout his years at college Evans played not only in the school groups, but on his own as well. After graduation, he worked with the band of Herbie Fields before being drafted into the U.S. Army. While playing flute in the Fifth Army Band throughout his 1951-54 assignment at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, near Chicago, by night Evans became a part of the city’s jazz scene. During this period he played with the bands of Tony Scott and Jerry Wald, among others. Evans collaborated with avant-garde composer George Russell for several years beginning in about 1956, integrating modal music (stressing structure and form) into jazz playing and producing such recordings as "All About Rosie" and "Concerto for Billy the Kid." In 1957 Evans was featured on the "East Coasting" album with bassist Charles Mingus.

Played with Miles Davis
Though Evans etched his first Riverside album as a leader and drew increasing attention from music insiders, it was his eight-month stint with trumpeter Miles Davis’s sextet in 1958 that propelled the pianist toward stardom and instilled some measureof self-confidence. This all-star group included such luminaries as alto saxist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, tenorman John Coltrane, and bassist Paul Chambers.

After leaving Davis to work as a leader, Evans was asked to return in early 1959 to record the groundbreaking Kind of Blue album. Cut in two sessions, the album quickly became one that was listened to and emulated by much of the jazz community and is still regarded as one of the most influential of all time. Davis’s biographer, Ian Carr, stated: "The qualities of Bill Evans areof crucial importance to the music of Kind of Blue." Indeed, though Davis is credited as composer on all but one tune, the shy Evans told British writer Brian Case in a Melody Maker interview: "Coupla tunes more or less mine, one totally mine." And as Davis told critic Nat Hentoff in 1959, "Boy, I’ve sure learned a lot from Bill Evans. He plays the piano the way it should be played."

Formed Own Trio
Evans had been experimenting with a trio format and in 1959 he hit upon the combination that has remained the hallmark of the Evans sound, with a young Scott LaFaro on bass and drummer Paul Motian. Their first album, Portrait in Jazz: Bill Evans Trio, recorded in December, featured seven familiar standards and two Evans originals. It embodies many of the qualities that marked nearly every Evans album: relatively brief treatments (the longest cut is five minutes, 22 seconds) of the selections; fresh, thoughtful reworkings of familiar tunes (an up-tempo "Autumn Leaves," a swinging "Some Day My Prince Will Come"); dense harmonic structure and beautiful, distinct voicings, often using the bass to free the piano for exploration; and perhaps most important, interplay among the three that reflects great freedom within structure.

"I’m hoping the trio will grow in the direction of simultaneous improvisation. If the bass player, for example, hears an idea that he wants to answer, why should he just keep playing a 4/4 background? The men [I] work with have learned how to do the regular kind of playing, and so I think we now have the license to change it," Evans told music writer Michael James.

A word that Evans used often in his interviews in describing his fellow musicians was "responsible." He expected them to know the music and their instruments well enough to foster improvisational freedom. In a 1979 interview with Wayne Enstice and Paul Rubin for Jazz Spoken Here, Evans stated, "I respect the American popular song very much and some of the masters that have composed in that form … and I studied this very hard, analytically and diligently as I was growing… There’s still explorations that I haven’t begun to make yet into handling these things."

Evans noted in the same 1979 interview: "In my mind Scott LaFaro was responsible in a lot of ways for the expansion of the bass. I think he is acknowledged, at least within musical circles, as being more or less the father or the wellspring of modern bass players. And when we got together I realized that Scott had the conceptual potential, he had the virtuosity, and he had the experience and the musical responsibility … to handle the problem of approaching the bass function in jazz, especially with a trio."

This trio performed and grewtogether from its formation in 1959, a growth that is reflected in the double album, The Village Vanguard Sessions. Recorded live at Evans’s favorite New York nightclub on June 25, 1961 (at both matinee and evening sessions), this album is often cited as a model of trio musicianship. "We try to dedicate ourselves to the total musical statement, whatever it might be," said Evans, "and try to shape it according to musical ends and not ego ends." This, however, was to be the last performance of this trio; ten days later LaFaro was killed in an automobile accident. So distraught was Evans that he did not play for some months.

A re-formed trio, with Chuck Israels on bass, began playing together in early 1962 and recorded two albums in May and June for Orrin Keepnews on Riverside. Here again Evans has plumbed the depths of mostly familiar standard tunes, plus a few originals, to produce the unique Evans trio sound. Given the nature of this sound, bassists were extremely important to Evans; he was fortunate, sometimes after considerable effort, to unearth several great ones. Following Israels in 1963 was Gary Peacock, after which came a long association with Eddie Gomez stretching from 1966 to 1977, the last nine years with Marty Morell as drummer. This group is generally considered to be the second great Bill Evans trio. His last group, with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera, met with critical and popular approval as well.

For two decades Evans’s principal passion was his trio and it is in this context that most listeners associate him. Though the personnel changed some during the years, these groups always sounded highly polished and organized. Amazingly, Evans told McPartland that the trios had had only about four rehearsals in 20 years. "I try to reach out for things that are natural and fundamental… I choose the people as responsible musicians and artists so that I can give them that kind of freedom and know that they’re going to use it with discretion toward a total result… With Scott [LaFaro] it was a once in a lifetime thing, but I have had marvelous experiences with other bass players, with Eddie [Gomez] certainly for eleven years, and now [with] a new young bass player—I don’t know what I can say about … Marc Johnson… He’s just gorgeous."

Interspersed with all the trio activity, Evans created a recorded legacy of collaboration with a wide variety of musicians. In various contexts these include: singer Tony Bennett, harmonica master Toots Thielemans, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, altoist Lee Konitz, guitarist Jim Hall, and tenorist Stan Getz. He has recorded the music of Claus Ogerman, with symphony orchestra, and of Gunther Schuller. In addition, Evans found time to produce several solo albums. Two, Conversations with Myself in 1963 and 1970’s Alone, won Grammy Awards. In these Evans used multiple tracks to perform duets and trios with himself, sometimes using an electronic keyboard in place of his favored acoustic piano. Some of Evans’s original compositions include: "Waltz for Debby," "Blue in Green," "T.T.T." ("Twelve Tone Tune"), "Peace Piece," and "34 Skidoo" (using alternating 3/4 and 4/4 time). "Song for Helen" was written for his longtime manager, producer, and friend, Helen Keane.

Clever, Perceptive, but Troubled
Gene Lees wrote that Evans was "elegantly coordinated" and, contrary to his fragile appearance (created partly by his bookworm’s spectacles, slicked down hair, and poor posture), was strong and lean. He had played sports in college, was "a superb car driver… a golfer of professional stature and… a demon pool shark." In later years, Evans’s appearance underwent a radical change; he sported long hair, a full beard, and more stylish glasses. His mind was sharp, given to self-analysis. He enjoyed anagrams, naming one of his tunes "Re: Person I Knew," for his friend and producer, Orrin Keepnews. But throughout the 1950s and 1960s Evans fought addiction to heroin. His friend Lees wrote that he finally kicked the habit in about 1970 and was drug-free for nearly ten years, however he reverted to using cocaine toward the end of his life.

Though he remains one of the most lyrical of the ballad players, Evans, in contrast to pianist Art Tatum, told Len Lyons, "I never listen to lyrics. I’m seldom conscious of them at all." The title of one of Evans’s 1958 albums is "Everybody Digs Bill Evans." In 1984 Gene Lees surveyed more than 60 well-known pianists, including Dave Brubeck, Dave Frishberg, Roger Kellaway, and Billy Taylor, asking them to name five pianists who they thought were the "best," "most influential" and "personal favorite." The results: best—Tatum, 36; Evans 33; Peterson, 27; most influential—Tatum, 32; Evans, 30; Bud Powell, 24; personal favorite—Evans, 25; Tatum, 22; Peterson, 19. It seems everybody does dig Bill Evans.

Selected discography
Everybody Digs Bill Evans, Fantasy, 1958.
(With the Miles Davis Band) Kind of Blue, 1959.
Portrait in Jazz: Bill Evans Trio (recorded December 1959),Riverside.
The Village Vanguard Sessions, Milestone, 1961.
Conversations with Myself, Verve, 1963.
Bill Evans at Town Hall, Verve, 1966.
Intermodulation, Verve, 1966.
Alone, 1970.
The Complete Riverside Recordings (12 CDS) were released between 1956 and 1963; The Complete Fantasy Recordings (nine CDS) were released between 1973 and 1979.

Sources
Books
Berendt, Joachim E., The Jazz Book: From Ragtime to Fusion and Beyond, Lawrence Hill, 1975.
Carr, Ian, Miles Davis, Morrow, 1982.
Enstice, Wayne, and Paul Rubin, Jazz Spoken Here: Conversations with Twenty-Two Musicians, Louisiana State University Press, 1992.
Feather, Leonard, The New Edition of the Encyclopedia of Jazz, Bonanza Books, 1965.

Lees, Gene, Meet Me at Jim&Andy’s: Jazz Musicians and Their World, Oxford University Press, 1988.
Lyons, Len, The Great Jazz Pianists, Morrow, 1983.
Lyons, Len, and Don Perlo, Jazz Portraits: The Lives and Music of the Jazz Masters, Morrow, 1989.

Periodicals
Down Beat, October 22, 1964; March 11, 1976; October 1979; December 1980.
Gene Lees Jazzletter, November 1992.
High Fidelity, July 1985.
Melody Maker, September 27, 1980.
New York Times, September 16, 1980.
Additional information for this profile was taken from the liner notes to Portrait in Jazz: Bill Evans Trio, Riverside, notes by Orrin Keepnews; The Village Vanguard Sessions, Milestone, notes by Michael James; How My Heart Sings, Riverside, notes by Evans and Keepnews; and Bill Evans/New Conversations, Warner Bros., notes by Nat Hentoff.
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:

Bill Evans

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Biography

With the passage of time, Bill Evans has become an entire school unto himself for pianists and a singular mood unto himself for listeners. There is no more influential jazz-oriented pianist -- only McCoy Tyner exerts nearly as much pull among younger players and journeymen -- and Evans has left his mark on such noted players as Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Brad Mehldau. Borrowing heavily from the impressionism of Debussy and Ravel, Evans brought a new, introverted, relaxed, lyrical, European classical sensibility into jazz -- and that seems to have attracted a lot of young conservatory-trained pianists who follow his chord voicings to the letter in clubs and on stages everywhere. Indeed, classical pianists like Jean-Yves Thibaudet have recorded note-for-note transcriptions of Evans' performances, bringing out the direct lineage with classical composers. In interviews, Evans often stressed that pianists should thoroughly learn technique and harmony so that they can put their inspiration to maximum use. Since he already had those tools in hand, he worked very hard on his touch, getting the special, refined tone that he wanted out of a piano. He also tried to democratize the role of the bassist and drummer in his succession of piano trios, encouraging greater contrapuntal interplay.

Bespectacled, shy, soft-spoken, and vulnerable, Evans was not a good fit into the rough-and-tumble music business. In part to shield himself from the outside world, he turned to drugs -- first heroin, and later, cocaine -- which undoubtedly shortened his life. In interviews, though, he sounds thoroughly in control, completely aware of what he wanted from his art, and colleagues report that he displayed a wicked sense of humor. Nowadays, Evans seems to be immune from criticism, but there was a time when he was accused of not being able to swing, or pilloried for an "effete" approach to jazz that was alien to its African sources. However, there are plenty of Evans recordings which show that he could indeed flash the technique and swing as hard as anyone when he wanted to, especially early in his career. He simply chose a different path for himself, one entirely reflective of his inward personality -- and that's what seems to touch listeners inside and outside jazz the most. Indeed, the cult for Evans' recordings is big enough to justify the existence of six large, expensive boxed sets of his output: four from Fantasy's archives, one from Warner Bros., and the biggest one from Verve. A newcomer, though, would be better-advised to sample Evans in smaller doses. Since the bulk of his recordings were made with the same piano-bass-drums instrumentation, and his career was not marked by dramatic shifts in style, prolonged listening to hours upon hours of his trio recordings can lead to monotony (after all, you can even overdose on Bach, as great as he was).

Born and raised in New Jersey, Evans was recruited for Southeastern Louisiana University on a flute scholarship, where he received a thorough background in theory, played in the marching band, and also led his football team to a league championship as a quarterback. Graduating as a piano major in 1950, he started to tour with the Herbie Fields band, but the draft soon beckoned, and Evans was placed in the Fifth Army Band near Chicago. After three years in the service, he arrived in New York in 1954, playing in Tony Scott's quartet and undertaking postgraduate studies at Mannes College, where he encountered composer George Russell and his modal jazz theories. By 1956, he had already recorded his first album as a leader for Riverside, New Jazz Conceptions, still enthralled by the bop style of Bud Powell but also unveiling what was to become his best-known composition, "Waltz for Debby," which he wrote while still in the Army.

In spring 1958, Evans began an eight-month gig with the Miles Davis Sextet, where he exerted a powerful influence upon the willful yet ever-searching leader. Though Evans left the band that autumn, exhausted by pressured expectations and anxious to form his own group, he was deeply involved in the planning and execution of Davis' epochal Kind of Blue album in 1959, contributing ideas about mood, structure, and modal improvisation, and collaborating on several of the compositions. Although the original release gave composition credit of "Blue in Green" to Davis, Evans claimed he wrote it entirely, based on two chords suggested by Davis (nowadays, they receive co-credit). In any case, Kind of Blue -- now the biggest-selling acoustic jazz album of all time -- contains perhaps the most moving performances of Evans' life.

Evans returned to the scene as a leader in December 1958 with the album Everybody Digs Bill Evans, which included the famous "Peace Piece," a haunting vamp for solo piano that sounds like a long-lost Satie Gymnopedie. Evans' first working trio turned out to be his most celebrated, combining forces with the astounding young bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian in three-way telepathic trialogues. With this group, Evans became a star -- and there was even talk about a recording with Davis involving the entire trio. Sadly, only ten days after a landmark live session at the Village Vanguard in June 1961, LaFaro was killed in an auto accident -- and the shattered Evans went into seclusion for almost a year. He re-emerged the following spring with Chuck Israels as his bassist, and he would go on to record duets with guitarist Jim Hall and a swinging quintet session, Interplay, with Hall and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard.

Upon signing with Verve in 1962, Evans was encouraged by producer Creed Taylor to continue to record in more varied formats: with Gary McFarland's big band, the full-orchestra arrangements of Claus Ogerman, co-star Stan Getz, a reunion with Hall. The most remarkable of these experiments was Conversations With Myself, a session where Evans overdubbed second and third piano parts onto the first; this eventually led to two sequels in that fashion. In his only concession to the emerging jazz-rock scene, Evans dabbled with the Rhodes electric piano in the 1970s but eventually tired of it, even though inventor Harold Rhodes had tailored the instrument to Evans' specifications. Mostly, though, Evans would record a wealth of material with a series of trios. Through his working trios would pass such players as bassists LaFaro (1959-1961), Israels (1962-1965), Gary Peacock (1963), Teddy Kotick (1966), Eddie Gomez (1966-1977), and Marc Johnson (1978-1980); and drummers Motian (1959-1962), Larry Bunker (1962-1965), Arnie Wise (1966, 1968), Joe Hunt (1967), Philly Joe Jones (1967, 1977-1978), Jack DeJohnette (1968), John Dentz (1968), Marty Morell (1968-1975), Eliot Zigmund (1975-1977), and Joe La Barbera (1978-1980). After Verve, Evans would record for Columbia (1971-1972), Fantasy (1973-1977), and Warner Bros. (1977-1980). The final trio with Johnson and La Barbera has been considered the best since the LaFaro-Motian team -- Evans thought so himself -- and their brief time together has been exhaustively documented on CDs.

Though Evans' health was rapidly deteriorating, aggravated by cocaine addiction, the recordings from his last months display a renewed vitality. Even on The Last Waltz, recorded as late as a week before his death from a hemorrhaging ulcer and bronchial pneumonia, there is no audible hint of physical infirmity. After Evans' death, a flood of unreleased recordings from commercial and private sources has elevated interest in this pianist to an insatiable level. ~ Richard S. Ginell, Rovi
Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Bill Evans

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For other uses, see Bill Evans (disambiguation).
Bill Evans

Bill Evans performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland) with his trio consisting of Marc Johnson, bass & Philly Joe Jones, drums, July 13, 1978. (Photo by Brian McMillen)
Background information
Birth name William John Evans
Also known as Bill Evans
Born (1929-08-16)August 16, 1929
Plainfield, New Jersey, United States
Died September 15, 1980(1980-09-15) (aged 51)
Fort Lee, New Jersey, United States
Genres Jazz, modal jazz, third stream, cool jazz, post-bop
Occupations Pianist
Composer
Arranger
Instruments Piano
Years active 1950s–1980[1]
Labels Riverside, Verve, Fantasy
Associated acts George Russell, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, Philly Joe Jones, Scott LaFaro, Paul Motian, Eddie Gomez, Marty Morell, Tony Bennett, Jim Hall, Monica Zetterlund

William John Evans, known as Bill Evans (August 16, 1929–September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists. He is considered by some to be the most influential post-World War II jazz pianist.[2] Evans had a distinct playing posture in which his neck would often be stooped very low, and his face parallel to the piano.

Evans is an inductee of the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.[3]

Contents

Biography

Early life

Bill Evans was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, United States, to a mother of Rusyn ancestry and a father of Welsh descent.[4] He received his first musical training at his mother's church. Evans' mother was an amateur pianist with an interest in modern classical composers, and Evans began classical piano lessons at age six. He also became a proficient flautist by age 13 and could play the violin.

At age 12, Evans filled in for his older brother Harry in Buddy Valentino's band.[5] At this age he was able to interpret classical music, but he couldn't improvise. In the beginning, he played exactly what was written in the sheet, but soon started trying to improvise, while learning about harmonies in the songs and how to alter them. Meanwhile, he was playing dance music (and jazz) at home, in a recording studio he built in his family's basement..[6] In the late 1940s, Evans played boogie woogie in various New Jersey clubs. He attended Southeastern Louisiana University on a music scholarship, and in 1950 performed Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto on his senior recital there, graduating with a degree in piano performance and teaching. He was also among the founding members of SLU's Delta Omega Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and played quarterback for the fraternity's football team, helping them win the school's 1949 intramural tournament.[6]

Evans's first professional job was with sax player Herbie Fields's band, based in Chicago. During the summer of 1950, the band did a three-month tour backing Billie Holiday, including East Coast appearances at Harlem's Apollo Theater and shows in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and at Washington D.C.'s Howard Theater. In addition to Fields and Evans, the band included trumpeter Jimmy Nottingham, trombonist Frank Rosolino and bassist Jim Aton. Upon its return to Chicago, Evans and Aton worked as a duo in Chicago clubs, often backing singer Lurlean Hunter. Shortly thereafter, Evans received his draft notice and entered the U.S. Army.

After his army service, Evans returned to New York and worked at nightclubs with jazz clarinetist Tony Scott and other leading players. Later, he took postgraduate studies in composition at the Mannes College of Music, where he also mentored younger music students.

1950s

Working in New York in the 1950s, Evans gained recognition as a sideman in traditional and so-called Third Stream jazz groups. During this period he had the opportunity to record in many different contexts with some of the best jazz musicians of the time. Seminal recordings made with composer/theoretician George Russell, including "Concerto for Billy the Kid" and "All About Rosie," are notable for Evans's solo work. Evans also appeared on notable albums by Charles Mingus, Oliver Nelson, Tony Scott, and Art Farmer. In 1956, he made his debut album, New Jazz Conceptions, featuring the original version of "Waltz for Debby," for Riverside Records. Producer Orrin Keepnews was convinced to record the reluctant Evans by a demo tape guitarist Mundell Lowe played to him over the phone.

In 1958, Evans was hired by Miles Davis, becoming the only white member of Davis's famed sextet. Though his time with the band was brief (no more than eight months), it was one of the most fruitful collaborations in the history of jazz, as Evans's introspective approach to improvisation deeply influenced Davis's style. Davis wrote in his autobiography, "Bill had this quiet fire that I loved on piano. The way he approached it, the sound he got, was like crystal notes or sparkling water cascading down from some clear waterfall." Additionally, Davis said, "I've sure learned a lot from Bill Evans. He plays the piano the way it should be played."

Evans's desire to pursue his own projects as a leader (and increasing problems with drug use) led him to leave the Davis sextet in late 1958. Shortly after, he recorded Everybody Digs Bill Evans, documenting the wholly original meditative sound he was exploring at the time. But Evans came back to the sextet at Davis's request to record the jazz classic Kind of Blue in early 1959. Evans's contribution to the album was overlooked for years; in addition to cowriting the song "Blue in Green,"[7] he had also already developed the ostinato figure from the track "Flamenco Sketches" on the 1958 solo recording "Peace Piece" from his album Everybody Digs Bill Evans. Evans also penned the heralded liner notes for Kind of Blue comparing jazz improvisation to Japanese visual art.[8] By the fall of 1959, he had started his own trio.

1960s

At the turn of the decade, Evans led a trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian. This group was to become one of the most acclaimed piano trios — and jazz bands in general — of all time. With this group, Evans's focus settled on traditional jazz standards and original compositions, with an added emphasis on interplay among the band members that often bordered on collective improvisation, blurring the line between soloist and accompanist. The collaboration between Evans and the young LaFaro was particularly fruitful, as the two achieved a remarkable level of musical empathy. The trio recorded four albums: Portrait in Jazz (1959); and Explorations, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, and Waltz for Debby, all recorded in 1961. The last two albums are live recordings from the same recording date, and are routinely named among the greatest jazz recordings of all time. In 2005, the full sets were collected on the three-CD set The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961. There is also a lesser-known recording of this trio, Live at Birdland, taken from radio broadcasts in early 1960, though the sound quality is poor.

In addition to introducing a new freedom of interplay within the piano trio, Evans began (in performances such as "My Foolish Heart" from the Vanguard sessions) to explore extremely slow ballad tempos and quiet volume levels, which had been virtually unknown in jazz. His chordal voicings became more impressionistic, reminiscent of classical composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Scriabin, and Satie, and he moved away from the thick block chords he had often used with Davis. His sparse left-hand voicings supported his lyrical right-hand lines, reflecting the influence of jazz pianist Bud Powell.

Like Davis, Evans was a pioneer of modal jazz, favoring harmonies that helped avoid some of the idioms of bebop and other earlier jazz. In tunes like Time Remembered, the chord changes more or less absorbed the derivative styles of bebop and instead relied on unexpected shifts in color. It was still possible (and desirable) to make these changes swing, and a certain spontaneity appeared in expert solos that were played over the new sound. Most composers refer to the style of Time Remembered as "plateau modal," because of its frequent juxtaposition of harmony.

LaFaro's death at age 25 in a car accident, ten days after the Vanguard performances, devastated Evans. He did not record or perform in public again for several months. His first recording after LaFaro's death was the duet album Undercurrent, with guitarist Jim Hall, released on United Artist Jazz records in 1963. Recorded in two sessions on April 24 and May 14, 1962, it is now widely regarded as a classic jazz piano-guitar duet recording. The album is also notable for its striking cover image, "Weeki Wachee Spring, Florida" by photographer Toni Frissell. The original LP and the first CD reissue featured a cropped, blue-tinted version, overlaid with the title and the Blue Note logo; but for the most recent (24-bit remastered) CD reissue, the image has been restored to its original black-and-white coloration and size, without lettering.

When he re-formed his trio in 1962, Evans replaced LaFaro with bassist Chuck Israels, initially keeping Motian on the drums. Two albums, Moon Beams and How My Heart Sings!, resulted. In 1963, after having switched from Riverside to the much more widely distributed Verve, he recorded Conversations With Myself, an innovative album on which he employed overdubbing, layering up to three individual tracks of piano for each song. The album won him his first Grammy award, for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance — Soloist or Small Group.

Though his time with Verve was prolific in terms of recording, his artistic output was uneven. Despite Israels's fast development and the creativity of new drummer Grady Tate, they were ill-represented by the rather perfunctory album Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra, with the piece Pavane by Gabriel Fauré remarkably reinvented with improvisations by Evans. Some unique contexts were attempted, such as a big-band live album at Town Hall, recorded but never issued due to Evans's dissatisfaction with it (although the jazz trio portion of the Pavane concert was made into its own somewhat successful release), and an album with a symphony orchestra, not warmly received by critics.

During this time, Helen Keane, Evans's manager, began having an important influence. One of the first women in her field, she significantly helped to maintain the progress (or prevent the deterioration) of Evans's career in spite of his self-destructive lifestyle.

In 1966, Evans discovered the remarkable young Puerto Rican bass player Eddie Gomez. In what turned out to be an eleven-year stay, the sensitive and creative Gomez sparked new developments in both Evans's playing and his trio conception. One of the most significant releases during this period is Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival, from 1968. Although it was the only album Evans made with drummer Jack DeJohnette, it has remained a critical and fan favorite, due to the trio's remarkable energy and interplay.

Other highlights from this period include "Solo — In Memory of His Father" from Bill Evans at Town Hall (1966), which introduced the famous theme "Turn Out the Stars," a second successful pairing with guitarist Jim Hall; Intermodulation (1966); and the subdued, crystalline solo album Alone (1968), featuring a 14-minute-plus version of "Never Let Me Go." In 1969, Evans visited Ilkka Kuusisto's home in Helsinki and was interviewed about jazz before performing.

1970s

In 1968, Marty Morell joined the trio on drums and remained until 1975, when he retired to family life. This was Evans's most stable, longest-lasting group. Evans had kicked his heroin habit and was entering a period of personal stability as well. The group made several albums, including From Left to Right (1970), which features Evans's first use of electric piano; The Bill Evans Album (1971), which won two Grammies; The Tokyo Concert (1973); Since We Met (1974); and But Beautiful (1974), featuring the trio plus legendary tenor saxophonist Stan Getz in live performances from Holland and Belgium, released posthumously in 1996. Morell was an energetic, straight-ahead drummer, unlike many of the trio's former percussionists, and many critics feel that this was a period of little growth for Evans. After Morell left, Evans and Gomez recorded two duo albums, Intuition and Montreux III.

In 1974, Bill Evans recorded a multimovement jazz concerto specifically written for him by Claus Ogerman entitled Symbiosis, originally released on the MPS Records label. The 1970s also saw Evans collaborate with the singer Tony Bennett on 1975's The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album and 1977's Together Again.

On September 13, 1975, Evans's son, Evan, was born. Evan Evans did not often see his always-touring father. A child prodigy, he embarked on a career in film scoring, ambitiously attending college courses in 20th-century composition, instrumentation, and electronic composition at the age of ten. He also studied with many of his father's contemporaries, including Lalo Schifrin and harmony specialist Bernard Maury.

In 1976, Marty Morell was replaced on drums by Eliot Zigmund. Several interesting collaborations followed, and it was not until 1977 that the trio was able to record an album together. Both I Will Say Goodbye (Evans's last album for Fantasy Records) and You Must Believe in Spring (for Warner Bros., released posthumously) highlighted changes that would become significant in the last stage of Evans's career. A greater emphasis was placed on group improvisation and interaction, Evans was reaching new expressive heights in his soloing, and new experiments with harmony and keys were attempted.

Gomez and Zigmund left Evans in 1978. Evans then asked Philly Joe Jones, the drummer he considered his "all-time favorite drummer" and with whom he had recorded his second album in 1957, to fill in. Several bassists were tried, with Michael Moore staying the longest. Evans finally settled on Marc Johnson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums. This trio was Evans's last.

Death

Evans was a heroin addict for much of his career, his health was generally poor, and his financial situation worse, for much of the 1960s. By the end of that decade, he appeared to have succeeded in overcoming his addiction to heroin. However, in the late 1970s, cocaine use became a serious problem for Evans. On September 15, 1980, Bill Evans was accompanied by Joe LaBarbera and his partner Laurie Verchomin, to the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, where he died that afternoon. [9] Evans's friend Gene Lees bleakly summarized Evans's struggle with drugs to Peter Pettinger as "the longest suicide in history.".[6] Bill Evans is buried at Roselawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum, Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana (Section #161, Plot K), next to his brother Harry Evans, who died the previous year.

Legacy and influence

Music critic Richard S. Ginell noted, “With the passage of time, Bill Evans has become an entire school unto himself for pianists and a singular mood unto himself for listeners. There is no more influential jazz-oriented pianist—only McCoy Tyner exerts nearly as much pull among younger players and journeymen—and Evans has left his mark on such noted players as: Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, John Taylor, Steve Kuhn, Don Friedman, Marian McPartland, Denny Zeitlin, Bobo Stenson, Warren Bernhardt, Michel Petrucciani and Keith Jarrett, as well as many other musicians worldwide. The music of Bill Evans continues to inspire younger pianists like Fred Hersch, Bill Charlap, Lyle Mays, Eliane Elias[10] and arguably Brad Mehldau [11] early in his career.

Conversations with Myself and Further Conversations with Myself were innovative solo performances involving multiple overdubs of Evans.

Many of his tunes, such as "Waltz for Debby," "Turn Out the Stars," "Very Early," and "Funkallero," have become often-recorded jazz standards. Many tribute recordings featuring his compositions and favorite tunes have been released in the years following his passing as well as tribute compositions. Pat Metheny's "September 15th" is one such recording.

During his lifetime, Evans was honored with 31 Grammy nominations and seven Awards. In 1994, he was posthumously honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tribute albums

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Discography

Main article: Bill Evans discography

References

  1. ^ Ginell, Richard S.. "Bill Evans". AllMusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bill-evans-p6477. Retrieved 2012-04-09. 
  2. ^ Cook, Richard & Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings 9th edition. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-103401-7. 
  3. ^ "1981 Down Beat Critics Poll". downbeat.com. http://www.downbeat.com/default.asp?sect=stories&subsect=story_detail&sid=707. Retrieved 2008-11-14. 
  4. ^ Wilson, John S. "Bill Evans, Jazz Pianist Praised For Lyricism and Structure, Dies; 'In Touch With His Feelings' Trouble With Scales", The New York Times, September 17, 1980. Accessed June 30, 2009. "Mr. Evans, who lived in Fort Lee, N.J., toured in Europe this summer."
  5. ^ Simpson, Joel. Bill Evans. Biography
  6. ^ a b c Pettinger, Peter (2002) [1999]. Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings (New Ed ed.). Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09727-1. 
  7. ^ The liner notes to Bill Evans - The Complete Riverside Recordings, published in 1984, give credit to both Evans and Davis ((Davis-Evans) Jazz Horn Music/Warner-Tamerlane Publ. — BMI).
  8. ^ Bill Evans (1959). "Liner notes". Kind of Blue. http://www.billevanswebpages.com/kindblue.html. 
  9. ^ The Big Love: Life & Death with Bill Evans by Laurie Verchomin 2010
  10. ^ All About Jazz on Eliane Elias.
  11. ^ Articles by Samuel Chell (All About Jazz) and Kristen MacKenzie (pp. 4 and 18).

Further reading

  • Bill Evans - How My Heart Sings (Paperback ed.). 

External links

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