Bill Evans

I NEVER APPROACH THE PIANO AS A THING IN ITSELF, BUT AS A

GATEWAY TO MUSIC.

Who is Bill Evans?

Considered the greatest jazz pianist of all time

Developed a new style of playing

Played with many famous jazz artists

His musical ability was beyond his time

Figure:1
Source: Bill Evans Biography newjazz.blogspot.com

Early Life

Figure: 2
Source: Bill Evans Biography newjazz.blogspot.com

Born in Plainfield NJ, August 16, 1929

Had an Ukrainian mother, and a Welsh

father

Started lessons at the age of 6, playing the

piano, flute, and violin

Played in High school band at the age of 12

Started to play professional gigs at the age

of 13

Early Life cont.

He attended Southern Louisiana University majoring in music,

considering teaching

He graduated in 1950, and was drafted in 1951

While enlisted, he played flute for the 5th army band

After military he started experimenting with the creation of

music, inspired by the early Jazz work of Nat King Cole and Bud
Powell

His guitar player at the time, Mundell Lowe, convinced him to

move to New York City in 1955 with only 75 dollars to his name

Beginning the Jazz Career

He settled in New York City and began playing with local bands in the
area

He began making a name for himself in the jazz community as a

brilliant pianist

His first professional recording was in 1955 when he accompanied

the local jazz singer Lucy Reed

Evans officially broke through in 1956 when Riverside Records, a

popular jazz recording agency, asked Evans to lead his own band
recording

Figure: 3
Source: Bill Evans jazz-piano.org

Figure: 4
Source: billevans.nl

The Miles Davis Sextet

In mid 1958, Miles Davis, a prestigious trumpet player, invited

Evans to play with his band

Evans went and played with the band and was soon after offered a
spot as the pianist

The band included Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane,

Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb.

Evans only played with the sextet for about a year, but in that time
they recorded 10 albums together

Their album Kind of Blue released in 1959, is the best selling jazz
record of all time

During this time he was introduced and soon became addicted to

heroin

Figure: 5
Source: Miles Davis Biography
rollingstones.com

Figure: 7
Source: jazztimes.com

Figure: 6
Source: Bill Evans Biography billevans.nl

Late Jazz Career

Soon after his collaboration with Miles Davis, he

created his own trio

Evans himself, was the only permanent member in

the trio

Most notable members included: Joe Labarera on

drums, and Scott Lafaro

In 1961, Scott Lafaro, died in a car accident

This had a big impact of Bill he stepped away from

music for a time

Figure: 8
Source: discogs.com

Late Jazz Career cont.

1975 gave way to the birth of his

son, Evan Evans

This also marks the time of when

Bills heroin addiction changed to
a cocaine addiction

Bill died on September 15, 1980

He preformed up until his death

At the end, his trio recorded 44

albums in total

Fig. 9
Source: jazzwax.com

Creative Process

In 1966, Bill Evans sat down with his brother Harry Evans to talk about his
creative process

The whole process of learning the facility of being able to play jazz is to
take these problems from the outer level in, one by one, and to stay with it
at a very intense, conscious-concentration level until that process becomes
secondary and subconscious. Now, when that becomes subconscious, then
you can begin concentrating on that next problem, which will allow you to do
a little bit more. Bill Evans

I dont consider myself as talented as many people but in some ways that
was an advantage because I didnt have a great facility immediately so I had
to be more analytical and in a way that forced me to build something.
Bill Evans

Critics

Evans has a unique position in the jazz cannon. A great white

player, his crisp, clean, dashing style would influence the likes of
Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea. Evans had learnt
his trade listening to contrasting players, chiefly the moody,
introspective Thelonius Monk and the percussive extrovert Bud
Powell. - Charles De Ledesma

Bill had this quiet fire that I loved on the piano. The way he
approached it, the sound he got was like crystal notes or sparkling
water cascading down from some clear waterfall. Miles Davis

Its really hard to be a modern pianist and not be affected by Bill

in some way, as far as touch and feeling and overall interpretation
of tunes, especially ballads. Sullivan Fortner

Legacy

Many great musicians have been heavily influenced by Evans

Evans was nominate for 31 Grammys, winning a total of 8

He is considered the greatest jazz pianist of all time

Figure: 12
Source: allaboutjazz.com

Figure: 11
Source: thegaurdian.com

Work Cited

"Bill Evans Biography." 8notes.com. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

"Bill Evans: 1929-1980." Allaboutjazz.com. 27 Aug. 2004. Web. 21 Mar.

2016.

"Biography and Personality of Pianist and Composer Bill Evans."

Billevans.nl. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

De Ledesma, Charles. "Bill Evans Everyone Digs Bill Evans Review."

Bbc.co.uk. 2007. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

Popova, Maria. "Jazz Legend Bill Evans on the Creative Process, SelfTeaching, and Balancing Clarity with Spontaneity in Problem-Solving."
Brainpickings.org. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

Ramsey, Doug. "The Bill Evans Legacy." Wall Street Journal. 3 Feb. 2015.
Web. 21 Mar. 2016.