Bill Evans - Music Biography, Credits and Discography _ AllMusic

Bill Evans - Music Biography, Credits and Discography : AllMusic

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bill-evans-mn0000764702[27/2/2013 6:03:13 ]

photo credit: Steve Schapiro

Bill Evans JUMP TO DISCOGRAPHY

GENRES

STYLES

ACTIVE

BORN

DIED

Jazz

Cool

Jazz Instrument

Modal Music

Piano Jazz

Post-Bop

1950s - 1980s

August 16, 1929 in Plainfield,

NJ

September 15, 1980 in New

York, NY

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biography by Richard S. Ginell

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With the passage of time, Bill Evans has become an entire school unto himself for pianists and asingular mood unto himself for listeners. There is no more influential jazz-oriented pianist -- onlyMcCoy Tyner exerts nearly as much pull among younger players and journeymen -- and Evans has lefthis 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 youngconservatory-trained pianists who follow his chord voicings to the letter in clubs and on stageseverywhere. Indeed, classical pianists like Jean-Yves Thibaudet have recorded note-for-notetranscriptions of Evans' performances, bringing out the direct lineage with classical composers. Ininterviews, Evans often stressed that pianists should thoroughly learn technique and harmony so thatthey can put their inspiration to maximum use. Since he already had those tools in hand, he workedvery hard on his touch, getting the special, refined tone that he wanted out of a piano. He also tried todemocratize the role of the bassist and drummer in his succession of piano trios, encouraging greatercontrapuntal interplay.

Bespectacled, shy, soft-spoken, and vulnerable, Evans was not a good fit into the rough-and-tumblemusic business. In part to shield himself from the outside world, he turned to drugs -- first heroin, andlater, cocaine -- which undoubtedly shortened his life. In interviews, though, he sounds thoroughly incontrol, completely aware of what he wanted from his art, and colleagues report that he displayed awicked sense of humor. Nowadays, Evans seems to be immune from criticism, but there was a timewhen he was accused of not being able to swing, or pilloried for an "effete" approach to jazz that wasalien to its African sources. However, there are plenty of Evans recordings which show that he couldindeed flash the technique and swing as hard as anyone when he wanted to, especially early in hiscareer. 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: fourfrom 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 madewith the same piano-bass-drums instrumentation, and his career was not marked by dramatic shifts instyle, 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 SoutheasternLouisiana University on a flute scholarship, where he received athorough background in theory, played in the marching band, andalso led his football team to a league championship as a quarterback.Graduating as a piano major in 1950, he started to tour with theHerbie Fields band, but the draft soon beckoned, and Evans wasplaced in the Fifth Army Band near Chicago. After three years in theservice, he arrived in New York in 1954, playing in Tony Scott'squartet and undertaking postgraduate studies at Mannes College,where he encountered composer George Russell and his modal jazztheories. By 1956, he had already recorded his first album as a leader for Riverside, New JazzConceptions, still enthralled by the bop style of Bud Powell but also unveiling what was to become hisbest-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 DavisSextet, where he exerted a powerful influence upon the willful yetever-searching leader. Though Evans left the band that autumn,exhausted by pressured expectations and anxious to form his owngroup, he was deeply involved in the planning and execution of Davis'

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artist moods

artist themes

Intimate ReflectiveReserved Amiable/Good-

NaturedCalm/Peaceful ComplexElegant GentleLiterate MelancholyRomantic SentimentalSophisticated BittersweetCerebral EnigmaticRefined RestrainedSomber SoothingWistful

Reflection Sunday AfternoonSweet Dreams ComfortHanging Out IntrospectionLate Night RelaxationReminiscing Stay in BedSpring

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epochal Kind of Blue album in 1959, contributing ideas about mood,structure, and modal improvisation, and collaborating on several ofthe compositions. Although the original release gave compositioncredit 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 -- containsperhaps the most moving performances of Evans' life.

Evans returned to the scene as a leader in December 1958 with thealbum Everybody Digs Bill Evans, which included the famous "PeacePiece," a haunting vamp for solo piano that sounds like a long-lostSatie Gymnopedie. Evans' first working trio turned out to be his mostcelebrated, combining forces with the astounding young bassist ScottLaFaro and drummer Paul Motian in three-way telepathic trialogues.With this group, Evans became a star -- and there was even talk abouta recording with Davis involving the entire trio. Sadly, only ten daysafter a landmark live session at the Village Vanguard in June 1961,LaFaro was killed in an auto accident -- and the shattered Evans wentinto 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 producerCreed Taylor to continue to record in more varied formats: with GaryMcFarland's big band, the full-orchestra arrangements of ClausOgerman, co-star Stan Getz, a reunion with Hall. The mostremarkable of these experiments was Conversations With Myself, asession where Evans overdubbed second and third piano parts ontothe first; this eventually led to two sequels in that fashion. In his onlyconcession to the emerging jazz-rock scene, Evans dabbled with theRhodes electric piano in the 1970s but eventually tired of it, eventhough inventor Harold Rhodes had tailored the instrument to Evans'

specifications. Mostly, though, Evans would record a wealth of material with a series of trios. Throughhis working trios would pass such players as bassists LaFaro (1959-1961), Israels (1962-1965), GaryPeacock (1963), Teddy Kotick (1966), Eddie Gomez (1966-1977), and Marc Johnson (1978-1980); anddrummers 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 recordfor Columbia (1971-1972), Fantasy (1973-1977), and Warner Bros. (1977-1980). The final trio withJohnson and La Barbera has been considered the best since the LaFaro-Motian team -- Evans thoughtso himself -- and their brief time together has been exhaustively documented on CDs.

Though Evans' health was rapidly deteriorating, aggravated by cocaineaddiction, the recordings from his last months display a renewedvitality. Even on The Last Waltz, recorded as late as a week before hisdeath from a hemorrhaging ulcer and bronchial pneumonia, there isno audible hint of physical infirmity. After Evans' death, a flood ofunreleased recordings from commercial and private sources haselevated interest in this pianist to an insatiable level.

COLLAPSE



discography MAIN ALBUMS COMPILATIONS SINGLES & EPS DVDS & VIDEOS

Year Title Label Editors' Rating Average User Rating

1956New Jazz Conceptions

OJC / Riverside(7)

1958Everybody Digs BillEvans

OJC / Riverside(20)

1958 Modern Art Blue Note(3)

1959On Green Dolphin Street

Milestone Records(22)

1959The Ivory Hunters

Blue Note No User Ratings

1959 Portrait in Jazz Riverside Records /Riverside (80)

1961 Explorations Original Jazz Classics /OJC / Riverside (18)

1961More from the Vanguard

Fan(1)

1961 Waltz for Debby Zeta Records(79)

1961Know What I Mean? Original Jazz Classics /

Concord / RiversideRecords / Universal Russia (10)

1962 Empathy CTI Records (Creed TaylorInc.) No User Ratings

1962 Interplay OJC / Riverside(10)

1962 Moonbeams OJC / Riverside(8)

1963

The Gary McFarlandOrchestra: SpecialGuest Soloist Bill Evans FiveFour (1)

1963 Trio '64 Verve(4)

1963At Shelly's Manne-Hole Concord / Original Jazz

Classics (7)

1963Conversations withMyself

Verve(11)

1963Plays the Theme fromV.I.P. and Others Verve No User Ratings

list condensed



1963Time Remembered

Prestige Records(2)

1963 Undercurrent Blue Note(9)

1964 Trio Live Verve / UniversalDistribution No User Ratings

1965 Trio '65 Verve(4)

1965Bill Evans Trio withSymphony Orchestra Verve

(1)

1966Bill Evans at Town Hall Universal Classics & Jazz /

Verve (3)

1966A Simple Matter ofConviction

Universal Distribution No User Ratings

1966 Intermodulation Verve(4)

1967Further Conversationswith Myself

Verve / PolyGram /Universal India Ltd. (1)

1967California Here I Come

Verve(3)

1968Bill Evans at theMontreux Jazz Festival Verve / PolyGram

(8)

1968 Bill Evans Alone Polygram(1)

1969 Quiet Now Charly Records No User Ratings

1969What's New/Nirvana

Verve No User Ratings

1970 Montreux II Sony Music Distribution(1)

1970From Left to Right

Verve / Polygram No User Ratings

1971The Bill Evans Album Legacy / Sony Music

Distribution (8)

1972Live in Paris 1972, Vol. 1

France's Concert No User Ratings

1972Live in Paris 1972, Vol. 2

France's Concert No User Ratings

1972 Living Time Sony Music JapanInternational (1)

1973The Tokyo Concert

Original Jazz Classics(2)



1973 My Foolish Heart Westwind No User Ratings

1973Stan Getz & Bill Evans Universal Classics & Jazz /

Verve (6)

1974 But Beautiful Concord / MilestoneRecords / Universal Ltd. (4)

1974 Intuition Original Jazz Classics /Fantasy (19)

1974Re: Person I Knew


1974 Symbiosis Polygram(4)

1975 Montreaux, Vol. 3 Original Jazz Classics(3)

1975 Alone Again Concord / Original JazzClassics (1)

1975 Eloquence Original Jazz Classics(1)

1975The Tony Bennett/BillEvans Album

Fantasy(16)

1976 Quintessence Original Jazz Classics(3)

1977You Must Believe inSpring

Warner Bros.(9)

1978Marian McPartland'sPiano Jazz with GuestBill Evans

Jazz Alliance(1)

1978 Affinity Warner Bros.(2)

1978New Conversations Warner Archives / Warner

Bros. No User Ratings

1979I Will Say Goodbye


1979The Paris Concert,Edition One

Blue Note(9)

1979The Paris Concert,Edition Two

Blue Note(6)

1979Live at the Balboa JazzClub, Vol. 1

Jazz Lab No User Ratings

1979Live at the Balboa JazzClub, Vol. 2




1979We Will Meet Again Warner Archives / Warner

Bros. (1)

1991Bill Evans Trio inBuenos Aires, Vol. 1:1973 Concert


2002Immortal Concerts:Autumn Leaves

Giants Of Jazz Recordings No User Ratings

2003 Portraiture Fuel 2000 No User Ratings

2003Getting Sentimental

Milestone Records No User Ratings

2003 Waltz for Debbie WestWind No User Ratings

2005Brandeis Jazz Festival

Gambit No User Ratings

2007Monterey Jazz Festival'75

Universal Distribution No User Ratings

Alone Together Wax Time(1)

Easy Living Music & Melody No User Ratings

Piano Four Hands Jazz Lips(1)

Undercurrent Not Now Music No User Ratings

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Bill Evans - Music Biography, Credits and Discography _ AllMusic

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