Bill Evans

With the passage of time, Bill Evans has become an entire scho 232e49c ol 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

1956 New Jazz ConceptionsRiverside/OJC

1958 Everybody Digs Bill EvansRiverside/OJC

1959 On Green Dolphin Street Milestone

1959 On Green Dolphin StreetMilestone

1959 Portrait in JazzRiverside/OJC

1961 ExplorationsRiverside/OJC

1961 Sunday at the Village Vanguard [live]Riverside/OJC

1961 More from the Vanguard Milestone

1961 Waltz for Debby [live]Riverside

1962 How My Heart Sings!Riverside/OJC

1962 MoonbeamsRiverside/OJC

1962 Empathy Verve

1963 The Solo Sessions, Vol. 1Milestone

1963 The Solo Sessions, Vol. 2Milestone

1963 Conversations with MyselfVerve

1963 Bill Evans Trio at Shelly's Manne-HoleRiverside/OJC

1963 Time RememberedMilestone

1963 Trio '64 Verve

1963 Trio '64Verve

1963 V.I.P.S Theme Plus Others MGM

1963 Undercurrent Blue Note

1964 Trio Live Verve

1965 Trio '65 Verve

1965 Trio '65Verve

1965 Bill Evans Trio with Symphony OrchestraVerve

1966 Bill Evans at Town HallVerve

1966 IntermodulationVerve

1966 A Simple Matter of Conviction Verve

1967 Further Conversations with MyselfVerve

1967 California, Here I Come Verve

1968 Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival [live]Verve

1968 Bill Evans AloneVerve

1969 What's New Verve

1969 AloneVerve

1970 Montreaux, Vol. 2 [live]CTI

1970 From Left to RightMGM

1970 Quiet Now Charly

1971 Bill Evans AlbumColumbia/Legac

1972 Living Time Columbia

1973 The Tokyo Concert [live]Original Jazz

1973 My Foolish HeartWestWind

1973 EloquenceFantasy

1974 Symbiosis Verve

1974 Re: Person I KnewOriginal Jazz

1974 Since We MetOriginal Jazz

1974 IntuitionFantasy/OJC

1975 The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans AlbumFantasy/OJC

1975 Montreaux, Vol. 3 [live]Original Jazz

1975 Alone (Again)Fantasy

1976 QuintessenceOriginal Jazz

1977 Cross-CurrentsFantasy/OJC

1977 I Will Say GoodbyeFantasy/OJC

1977 You Must Believe in SpringWarner

1978 New ConversationsWarner

1978 AffinityWarner

1979 We Will Meet AgainWarner

1979 Paris Concert, Edition Two [live]Elektra

1979 Paris Concert, Edition One [live]Elektra

1999 Serenity Charly

2000 Practice Tape, Vol. 1E3

2000 The Last Waltz Milestone

2002 Undercurrent [Expanded]Blue Note

2002 Waltz for Debby [Giants of Jazz] [live]Giants of Jazz

2002 Sunday At The Village Vanguard [SCD Version] [live] APO

2002 A Day in New YorkJazz Door [Tko

2002 Immortal Concerts: Autumn Leaves [live]Giants of Jazz

Waltz for Debby [SACD]Riverside

COMPILATION

1956 Conception Milestone

1956 The Complete Riverside RecordingsRiversidex

1956 Jazz ShowcaseOriginal Jazz

1958 Peace Piece and Other Pieces Milestone

1959 Spring Leaves Milestone

1960 The 1960 Birdland Sessions [live] Cool N' Blue

1961 The Bill Evans Trio at the Village Vanguard [live] Riverside

1961 Village Vanguard Sessions [live] Milestone

1961 At the Village Vanguard [live]Fantasy

1962 Interplay SessionsRiverside/OJC

1962 Empathy/A Simple Matter of ConvictionVerve

1962 Compact Jazz: Bill Evans Verve

1964 The Best of Bill Evans Live on VerveVerve

1965 Time to Remember (Live in Europe 1965-1972) Natasha

1965 Paris (1965) Royal Jazz

1965 Hollywood, California

1966 The Best of Bill Evans Verve

1966 The Secret Sessions [live]Milestonex

1969 JazzhouseMilestone

1969 You're Gonna Hear From MeMilestone

1969 Quiet Now Charly

1972 Live in Paris, Vol. 1 France's

1972 Live in Paris, Vol. 2 France's

1972 Live in Paris, Vol. 3 France's

1972 Yesterday I Heard the RainBandstand

1973 The Complete Fantasy RecordingsFantasyx

1973 From the Seventies [live]Fantasy

1974 The Canadian Concert of Bill Evans [live] Can-Am

1974 But Beautiful [live] Milestone

1974 Blue in Green [live]Milestone

1975 With Monica Zetterlund [live] Westwind

1975 Live in Switzerland (1975) Jazz Helvet

1975 With Monica Zetterlund [live] WestWind

1976 Together Again Nelson

1976 The Paris Concert [live] Fantasy

1976 Trio Verve

1977 Second Trio Milestone

1979 Live in Buenos Aires, 1979 WestWind

1979 Live in Buenos Aires, Vol. 2 Jazz Lab

1979 Live at the Balboa Jazz Club, Vol. 1 Jazz Lab

1979 Live at the Balboa Jazz Club, Vol. 2 Jazz Lab

1980 Turn Out the Stars: Final Village Vanguard...Warnerx

1980 Letter to Evan [live]Dreyfus

1980 Turn Out the Stars [live]Dreyfus

1980 Last Live in Europe WestWind

1980 The Brilliant [live] Timeless

1980 Consecration/The Last Complete Collection Alfax

1980 Consecration, Vol. 1 Timeless

1980 Consecration, Vol. 2 Timeless

1990 Altanta All Star Quartet Plays Bill Evans [live] Antelope

1992 Tribute Avion

1992 Loose BluesMilestone

1993 Jazz 'Round Midnight: Bill Evans Verve

1994 Verve Jazz Masters 5Verve

1994 Live in TokyoSony

1995 The Best of VerveVerve

1996 His Last Concert in Germany [live] Westwind

1996 Autumn Leaves [Jazz Hour] [live]Eclipse Music

1996 Artist's Choice: Highlights from Turn Out... [live]Warner

1997 The Complete Bill Evans on VerveVervex

1998 Ultimate Bill EvansPolygram

1998 Piano PlayerColumbia/Legac

1998 Since We Met [Japan] [live]Import

1998 Intuition [Japan]Victor

1998 Montreaux, Vol. 3 [Japan] [live]Import

1998 Alone (Again) [Japan]Import

1998 Quintessence [Japan]Import

1998 I Will Say Goodbye [Japan]Fantasy

1998 Half Moon Bay [live]Milestone

1998 Autumn Leaves [Giants of Jazz]Giants of Jazz

1999 Quiet Now: Never Let Me GoPolygram

1999 Homecoming [live]Milestone

1999 ForeverJVC Japan

2000 Immortal Concerts: Waltz for Debby/Village... [live]Giants of Jazz

2000 Les IncontournablesWea

2000 Last Waltz: The Final Recordings LiveMilestonex

2000 Plays Bill EvansUniversal

2000 Very Early, Vol.1 E3

2001 Bill EvansTimeless

2001 Jazz Collection Sony

2001 Bill Evans's Finest HourVerve

2001 Tenderly: An Informal SessionMilestone

2002 Marian McPartland's Piano JazzConcord Jazz

2002 Consecration [Milestone]Milestonex

Jazz Opera Presents the Bill Evans Memorial...

My Romance Zeta

Bill Evans - Trio - Duo Verve

1974 Live in Europe, Vol. 1 EPM Musiqueb

1974 Live in Europe, Vol. 2 EPM Musiqueb

1984 Bill Evans on the Creative Process Rhapsodyv

1994 Bill Evans Trio [Shanachie] Shanachiev

1995 Bill Evans Trio [Rhapsody Films] Rhapsody Filmsv

1998 In Europe [live] Vidjazzv

2000 The Universal Mind of Bill Evans Hal Leonardv

Creative Process Kino On Videov

Jazz at the Maintenance Shop Shanachiev

Tribute To Bill Evans Imagev

Emily [live] Moonb

The Universal Mind of Bill Evans Kino On Videov

A fine tenor and soprano saxophonist most influenced by Wayne Shorter, Bob Berg studied at the High School of Performing Arts and Juilliard. Although he was originally attracted to free jazz, by

1969 (when he joined Jack McDuff), Berg was more intrigued by bop.

He had stints with Horace Silver (1974-1976) and Cedar Walton (1976-1981), spent a couple years (1981-1983) in Europe, and then was with Miles Davis' electric group during 1984-1986. Associated on an occasional basis with Chick Corea, Berg has mostly appeared in hard bop settings, recording as a leader early on for Xanadu and later for Denon, Red, and Stretch, among other labels. - Scott Yanow

1978 New Birth Xanadu

1982 Steppin': Live in Europe Red

1987 Short Stories Denon

1988 Cycles Denon

1990 In the Shadows Denon

1991 Back Roads Denon

1992 Virtual Reality Denon

1993 Enter the Spirit Stretch

1994 Riddles GRP

1995 Unchained ITM

1997 Another StandardStretch

2000 Jazz Times SuperbandConcord Jazz

1995 The Best of Bob BergDenon