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).
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 Gymnopédie. 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, and 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.
By 1966, Evans had paired with Puerto Rican bassist Eddie Gomez and formed a trio with drummer Jack DeJohnette. Though short-lived, the group garnered attention, picking up a Grammy Award for the 1968 concert album Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival. That same year, DeJohnette left to be replaced by Marty Morell. This version of Evans' trio continued to work for a decade, releasing albums like 1969's What's New and 1971's Grammy-winning The Bill Evans Album. Evans also picked up a Grammy in 1970 for his solo piano date Alone.
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. He recorded further trio sessions with Gomez and drummer Eliot Zigmund before launching a final trio in the late '70s with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe La Barbera. Often considered one of the pianist's best configurations since the LaFaro-Motian team, their brief time together was documented on 1979's Grammy-winning We Will Meet Again, also featuring trumpeter Tom Harrell and saxophonist Larry Schneider.
By the late '70s, Evans' health was rapidly deteriorating, aggravated by long periods of heroin and cocaine addiction. He died on September 15, 1980, at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He was 51 years old. Along with a 1994 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, a flood of unreleased recordings from commercial and private sources helped to further elevate interest in Evans' work. Turn Out the Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings arrived in 1996, followed by 2000's The Last Waltz, recorded at Keystone Korner in 1980. Resonance Records also released three archival albums featuring Evans' late-'60s trio: 2016's Some Other Time: The Lost Session from the Black Forest, 2018's Another Time: The Hilversum Concert, and 2020's Live at Ronnie Scott's.
Biography by Richard S. Ginell
There are other artists with the same name:
2.) Bill Evans (born 9th February 1958 in Clarendon Hills, Illinois, USA) is an American jazz saxophonist. His father was a classical piano prodigy and until junior high school Evans studied classical clarinet. Early in his studies he was able to hear such artists as Sonny Stitt and Stan Getz live at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago. He attended Hinsdale Central High School and studied with jazz tenor saxophonist Vince Micko.
He plays primarily tenor and soprano saxophones. Evans attended North Texas State University and William Paterson University, where he studied with Dave Liebman, who had played with Miles Davis. Moving to New York City in 1979 he spent countless hours in lofts playing jazz standards and perfecting his improvisational style. At the age of twenty-two he joined Miles Davis. In the early to mid-1980s, Evans played with Davis and was instrumental in his musical comeback. Notable albums recorded with Miles include The Man with the Horn, We Want Miles, and Decoy.
In addition to playing with Miles Davis he has played, toured and recorded with artists such as Herbie Hancock, John Mclaughlin (and his Mahavishnu Orchestra), Michael Franks, Willie Nelson, Mick Jagger, Les McCann, Mark Egan, Danny Gottlieb, Ian Anderson, and Randy Brecker, among others. He is featured on the Petite Blonde album with Victor Bailey, Dennis Chambers, Mitch Forman, and Chuck Loeb.
Two of his most recent albums Soul Insider and Soulgrass were nominated for Grammy awards. Soulgrass was a groundbreaking bluegrass-jazz fusion concept involving such musicians as Béla Fleck, Sam Bush, Bruce Hornsby, and Vinnie Colaiuta. Although his latest projects are musically eclectic, his stylistic roots remain in the history of jazz saxophone, influenced by such players as Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Sonny Stitt, John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Stan Getz, and Steve Grossman.
3.) San Francisco Bay Area musician and Virginia native Bill Evans has been involved with bluegrass music and the banjo for over twenty-five years as a player, teacher, writer, and historian. He occupies a unique niche in the banjo world: celebrated worldwide for his traditional and progressive bluegrass banjo styles as well as his innovative original compositions, he also enjoys a reputation as an outstanding instructor as well as being an expert player of nineteenth-century minstrel and classic/parlour banjo styles.
For All We Know
Bill Evans Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We may never meet again
Before we go
Make this moment live again
We won't say goodbye
Until the last minute
I'll hold out my hand
And my heart will be in it
For all we know
This might only be a dream
We come and we go
Like the ripples, like the ripples in the stream
So baby, love me, love me tonight
Tomorrow was made for some
Oh, but tomorrow
But tomorrow may never, never come
For all we know
Yes, tomorrow may never, never come
For all we know
The song "For All We Know" by Bill Evans is a tender and wistful ballad that speaks of the fleeting nature of life and love. The lyrics suggest a sense of urgency to cherish the moment and make it last, as the future is uncertain and unpredictable. The opening lines set the contemplative mood, with the singer acknowledging that they may never meet again and urging the listener to embrace the present. The repetition of "For all we know" serves as a reminder of how little we can be sure of in life and how important it is to appreciate what we have.
The second verse takes on a more poetic tone, comparing human existence to the ebb and flow of a stream. The lyrics suggest a belief in the transience of life and the inevitability of change, yet there is also a plea for love to remain constant in the face of this. The final lines of the song capture this sentiment perfectly, with the singer acknowledging that tomorrow may never come and urging the listener to love them tonight.
Overall, "For All We Know" is a powerful reminder of the fragility of life and the importance of living in the present moment. The poignant lyrics and emotional delivery of Bill Evans make for a truly timeless and resonant ballad.
Line by Line Meaning
For all we know
We aren't certain about what will happen in the future, but we do know what's happening at this very moment.
We may never meet again
Our time together may be limited, and it's uncertain whether this will happen again.
Before we go
Before this moment is over.
Make this moment live again
Bring the present moment back to life and make it memorable.
We won't say goodbye
We won't bid farewell to each other.
Until the last minute
Until the very end of our time together.
I'll hold out my hand
I'll reach out towards you.
And my heart will be in it
I'll offer my whole self to you during this moment.
This might only be a dream
We're not certain that what's happening is real or just a figment of our imagination.
We come and we go
Our presence is temporary and fleeting, much like the ripples in a stream.
Like the ripples, like the ripples in the stream
Our presence, much like the ripples, has a short duration and will gradually fade away.
So baby, love me, love me tonight
Let's focus on this moment and cherish what we have right now.
Tomorrow was made for some
The future may hold different experiences and opportunities for some people.
Oh, but tomorrow
But we aren't sure what will happen tomorrow.
But tomorrow may never, never come
The future may not happen at all.
Yes, tomorrow may never, never come
We're uncertain whether the future will come to pass or not.
Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, MUSIC.INFO FINLAND OY, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: J Fred Coots, Samuel M Lewis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@syanenore
For all we know
We may never meet again
Before you go
Make this moment sweet again
We won't say "Good night" until the last minute
I'll hold out my hand and my heart will be in it
For all we know
this may only be a dream
We come and go
like a ripple on a stream
So love me tonight;
Tomorrow was made for some
Tomorrow may never come
For all we know
@davewhitesax
I have this wonderful cd of Bill Evans and am attempting to learn it on piano.
@LorenzoCarbonaramusic
i have no words to describe such beauty...Bill Evans is my hero.
@najponkjazz9111
Most beautiful record in jazz ever!!!! Bill Lives!!!!
@fraterdeusestveritas2022
It's certainly up there. I think it hard to call one record the best, but I totally understand why you would make that claim!
@foun10head
Hero.
@caponsacchi
Bill captures the beauty and emotion of the song, saying the most with the fewest notes. And his touch is simply inimitable.
@syanenore
For all we know
We may never meet again
Before you go
Make this moment sweet again
We won't say "Good night" until the last minute
I'll hold out my hand and my heart will be in it
For all we know
this may only be a dream
We come and go
like a ripple on a stream
So love me tonight;
Tomorrow was made for some
Tomorrow may never come
For all we know
@MrRickywallace
Love it, can't get enough of it!
@hendlerumbaut4056
He is magic.
@fraterdeusestveritas2022
Magic personified through Jazz