Bill Evans

Born in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1929 and active mainly in New York, Bill Evans profoundly influenced modern jazz through a piano approach in which cool jazz, post-bop and modal jazz intersect, with a sense of harmony nourished by Debussy, Ravel and Bach. After studies of classical music at Southeastern Louisiana College and then at Mannes School of Music, Bill Evans emerged in the latter half of the 1950s, first with George Russell, then within Miles Davis' sextet, with whom he participated in the recording of Kind of Blue in 1959. The same year, Evans more clearly asserted his personal universe with Everybody Digs Bill Evans, before developing the trio formula, central to his career. The trio formed with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian remains an important reference in his career, documented on Portrait in Jazz (1959), Explorations (1961), Sunday at the Village Vanguard (1961) and Waltz for Debby (1962). His playing, immediately identifiable, rests on airy voicings, a flexible pulse, singing melodic lines and a constant dialogue with the bass and drums. Over the years, Evans pursues this work with Chuck Israels then Eddie Gómez, parallel to collaborations with Jim Hall, Stan Getz, Monica Zetterlund and Tony Bennett. Among his notable recordings are Conversations with Myself (1963), Alone (1968) and The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album (1975). Dying in New York in 1980, Bill Evans leaves a body of work that has had a lasting influence on jazz piano and a repertoire where pieces like Waltz for Debby, Peace Piece or Time Remembered have become standards.