Difference between revisions of "Bill Evans"
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(1. his "descent" isn't really relvant to his work and 2. unless someone can confirm this, i think it's nonsense to begin with...) |
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| − | '''Bill Evans''' was an American [[jazz]] pianist | + | '''Bill Evans''' was an American [[jazz]] pianist who did much to establish the vocabulary of modern jazz [[piano]]. |
By his own admission, as a teenager "I couldn't play My Country Tis Of Thee without the notes". | By his own admission, as a teenager "I couldn't play My Country Tis Of Thee without the notes". | ||
Revision as of 03:40, October 12, 2009
Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist who did much to establish the vocabulary of modern jazz piano.
By his own admission, as a teenager "I couldn't play My Country Tis Of Thee without the notes".
However, he eventually learnt to improvise, and was not content to stop after he had achieved a basic level of competence - drawing inspiration from European composers such as Chopin and Debussy, as well as from contemporary jazz pianists such as Horace Silver and Nat King Cole, he steadily established a style that was sufficiently distinctive and beautiful to attract the attention of Miles Davis.
A brief period with the Davis band culminated with the recording of Kind of Blue, a landmark jazz album that arguably could never have been what it was without Evans' diffident romanticism.
After leaving Miles Davis' band, he explored the possibilities of the jazz trio - his collaboration with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian produced the landmark Sunday At The Village Vanguard, a recording of the highlights of five sessions recorded at the famous New York club. Tragically, LaFaro died in a car crash just 11 days later.
Evans' career continued until his death in 1981.