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.
I'll See You Again
Bill Evans Lyrics
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When ever spring breaks through again
Time may lie heavy between
But what has been
is past forgetting
This sweet memory
Across the years
Will come to me
In my heart will ever lie
Just an echo of a sigh
Goodbye
All my life I shall remember knowing you
All the pleasure I have found in showing you
The different ways
That one may phrase
The changing light
And changing shade
Happiness that must die
Melodies that must fly
Memories that must fade
Dusty and forgotten by and by
I'll see you again
When ever spring breaks through again
Time may lie heavy between
But what has been
is past forgetting
This sweet memory
Across the years
Will come to me
Though my world may go awry
In my heart will ever lie
Just an echo of a sigh
Goodbye
The lyrics of Bill Evans's song "I'll See You Again" reflect the bittersweet feeling of parting ways with someone you dearly love but are unable to stay with. The opening line, "I'll see you again," sets a tone of optimism and hope - the singer is confident that the two will reunite. The mention of spring breaking through again suggests that the singer imagines meeting their loved one after a long winter of longing and waiting. The line "time may lie heavy between, but what has been is past forgetting" is a reminder that while physical distance may separate the two, their memories will keep them close.
The hypnotic melody and poetic lyrics of "I'll See You Again" underscore the power of memories to hold the key to past happiness. The memory of the person who has departed, and the moments of joy shared with them, is a source of comfort and strength to the singer in the years to come. The line "All my life I shall remember knowing you" is a tribute to the depth and longevity of the singer's love. The reference to "melodies that must fly" and "memories that must fade" is a poignant reminder that everything fades away with time, but the memory of love endures.
Overall, "I'll See You Again" is a touching reflection on the impermanence of life and the power of memories to sustain us through the difficult times. The song's contemplative mood and beautiful melody melt into one of the most memorable melodies in the jazz repertoire.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll see you again
I will meet you once again
When ever spring breaks through again
When the season of spring blooms again
Time may lie heavy between
There might be a long gap between our meetings
But what has been is past forgetting
I will never forget the memories we shared in the past
This sweet memory across the years will come to me
I will cherish the sweet memories we had, even after years pass by
Though my world may go awry, in my heart will ever lie
Even if my life turns upside down, I will always have you in my heart
Just an echo of a sigh, Goodbye
Farewell to you, though your memory will always remain with me
All my life I shall remember knowing you
I will always remember the time spent with you in my life
All the pleasure I have found in showing you
It was a pleasure to have shown you the different aspects of life
The different ways that one may phrase
The different ways to express oneself
The changing light and changing shade
The evolving nature of life, with its ups and downs
Happiness that must die, melodies that must fly, memories that must fade, dusty and forgotten by and by
All good things must come to an end, and fade away with time
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: NOEL COWARD, NOEL PIERCE COWARD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind