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, and a reunion with Hall. 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. ![]() 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. With this group, Evans became a star - and there was even talk about a recording with Davis involving the entire trio. 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. 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).Įvans 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 Gymnopédie. 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. 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. 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. ![]() 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. 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. With the passage of time, Evans has become an entire school unto himself for pianists and a singular mood for listeners, leaving his mark on such noted players as Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, and Brad Mehldau.īorn 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. He earned accolades including Grammy Awards for 1968's At the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1970's Alone, 1971's The Bill Evans Album, and 1979's We Will Meet Again. Following LaFaro's tragic death in 1961, Evans eventually forged a lasting creative partnership with bassist Eddie Gomez and continued to perform, working with drummers Jack DeJohnette and Marty Morell. After gaining widespread attention as a member of Miles Davis' late-'50s group, Evans garnered further acclaim for his own work, leading a celebrated trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian and recording classic albums like 1960's Portrait in Jazz, 1961's At the Village Vanguard, and 1962's Waltz for Debby, the latter of which borrowed its title from the pianist's best-known composition. ![]() Along with his keen technical ability and nuanced sense of harmony, Evans worked to democratize the role of the bassist and drummer in his succession of piano trios, encouraging greater contrapuntal interplay. Borrowing heavily from the impressionism of Debussy and Ravel, pianist Bill… Read Full Bio ↴ Borrowing heavily from the impressionism of Debussy and Ravel, pianist Bill Evans brought an introverted, relaxed, and lyrical classical sensibility into jazz.
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