EVANS, BILL - ON A FRIDAY EVENING

A near-total unknown when he landed in New York in 1955 to study with George Russell, Bill Evans quickly became famous as the most cerebral modern jazz pianist since Thelonious Monk. After a stint with Miles Davis that included the epochal Kind of Blue, Evans led his own trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian that ended with LaFaro's death in a 1961 car accident. After a period of seclusion, Evans returned with 1962's haunting, minimal Undercurrent. He maintained a steady presence in modern jazz until his death in 1980. A second artist with the name Bill Evans is the 1958 born saxophone player who joined Miles Davis group at the tender age of only 21 y.o. Thereafter he joined forces with John McLaughlin and his Mahavishnu Orchestra with whom he recorded three albums and did quite a bit of touring. He also worked with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, Steps Ahead and Mick Jagger and - on the side - collected a few Grammies over the years. After the release of a trio album in 1982 ( Moods Unlimited) Evans started releasing his solo material with the 1984 debut Living in the Crest of a Wave. For Petite Blonde he formed a backing band including well-known musicians Dennis Chambers, Victor Bailey, Mitch Forman and Chuck Loeb. Evans became famous for meshing up a variety of styles with his temporary saxophone-jazz playing. This showed with the subsequent effort, which was an acid jazz, funk-jazz project named Push, which was both an album and a side band for Evans. Bill toured extensively with the [artist0Bill Evans & Randy Brecker Soulbop Band]Randy Brecker/Bill Evans Soulbop Band (formed in 2003) for over 15 years, which incorporated the many influences they both have had in their careers in the Jazz arena. This cooperation produced a live recording called the 'Soulbop Band Live'. Deeply intrigued and ultimately inspired by Jazz, as well as American roots music, Evans wrote, produced and recorded 'Soulgrass' in 2005, garnering a Grammy nod in the process.( his 2nd one to date ) Soulgrass was a breakaway new fusion of jazz and American roots music, blending the banjo, fiddle, mandolin and Dobro, combining the best musicians from Jazz and Americana together. According to Bill "the music and soundscape change, but it’s still me and my saxophone!" Three more CDs followed in the Soulgrass genre, 'The Other Side of Something', 'Dragonfly', and the 2014 release of 'Live in Moscow' recorded during the first of two sold out U.S. State Dept sponsored tours of Russia. Each subsequent release found Bill pushing the musical boundaries of Jazz and Improvisational groove. Says Evans "Miles always told me to write and play what inspires me. I’ve kept true to his advice from the very beginning regardless of the challenges they may create. Miles gave me the confidence to believe in myself as a player and a composer." In early 2019 Evans once again teamed up for another co-led recording with legendary Blues guitarist Robben Ford, drummer Keith Carlock , and bassist James Genus, to record 'The Sun Room' which was released in July 2019 and rose to the top of the iTunes download charts. Robben Ford/Bill Evans, 'Blues, Miles and Beyond' with Keith Carlock and Darryl Jones performed at the Tokyo Bluenote, March 2023 to 8 sold out shows. May 2024, Bill toured Europe with his band - 'Bill Evans and the VansBand Allstars.' Ater a 6 year Hiatus since releasing his last Solo Cd Bill released his 27th CD , titled "Who I Am" on August 16th. It has over 100,000 streams in just over a few weeks. To be continued... Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.