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
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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.
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Bill Evans Lyrics
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Their eyes looking coldly ahead
The two lonely people once loved and were caring
But now it's all over and dead
They don't know what happened
They can't think what happened
They had something fine of their own
But the two lonely people have turned into statues
The world was their moon once
A yellow balloon once
It held all their hopes and their dreams
But then time came and broke them
Reality woke them
The world's not so pretty as it seems
For love that once mattered
Is old now and battered
But must it be shattered in two
The two lonely people
Would give all their life
Yes they'd give all their life, if they knew
The two lonely people sit silently staring
Their eyes looking coldly ahead
The two lonely people sit silently staring
Their eyes looking coldly ahead
The Two Lonely People is a poignant ballad by American jazz pianist Bill Evans that tells the story of two people who were once in love but have now turned into statues of stone. The opening lines introduce us to the two people who are sitting silently and staring ahead with cold eyes. It's clear from the lyrics that they were once deeply in love and caring towards each other, but something happened along the way that caused their love to die.
The second stanza takes us back to the time when the two lonely people were deeply in love. The world was their moon and a yellow balloon that held all their hopes and dreams. But as time went by, reality set in and shattered their perfect world. Love that once mattered to them has now become old and battered. The two lonely people are now left to wonder if their love must be shattered in two.
The final stanza talks about how the two people are willing to give up their entire life if only they knew how to bring back their love. The song ends with a repetition of the opening lines, emphasizing the loneliness and emptiness in the lives of the two people.
Overall, The Two Lonely People is a beautiful and melancholic song that captures the pain and sadness of a failed relationship. The lyrics are simple yet powerful, and Evans' piano playing perfectly complements the mood of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
The two lonely people sit silently staring
The two individuals who are alone sit quietly, looking blankly at nothing in particular.
Their eyes looking coldly ahead
Their eyes are empty and emotionless as they stare into the distance without any expression.
The two lonely people once loved and were caring
At one point, these two individuals were affectionate and kind towards each other.
But now it's all over and dead
Their love has ended and there is no revival of it.
They don't know what happened
They are uncertain about how their love died and what exactly went wrong.
They can't think what happened
They cannot comprehend or understand what caused their love to end.
They had something fine of their own
Once, they had a unique and special love that was exclusively theirs.
But the two lonely people have turned into statues
They have become unresponsive and unmoving, as if they were made of stone.
Yes, turned into statues of stone
Their souls have become as hard and rigid as stone.
The world was their moon once
At one time, the world was the most important thing in their lives.
A yellow balloon once
Their love was once like a bright, uplifting balloon that filled their lives with joy.
It held all their hopes and their dreams
Their love embodied their aspirations and goals for the future.
But then time came and broke them
As events unfurled, the couple became increasingly torn apart and disconnected.
Reality woke them
Eventually, they were forced to face the harsh and painful reality of their situation.
The world's not so pretty as it seems
They came to the realization that the world is not as beautiful or perfect as they once believed.
For love that once mattered
Their relationship, which was once so important to them, has lost its significance.
Is old now and battered
Their love has aged and deteriorated, becoming worn and diminished.
But must it be shattered in two
Despite their love's decline, they wonder if it has to be completely destroyed or if there is any hope for reconciliation.
The two lonely people would give all their life
These two individuals are willing to dedicate their entire existence if it meant they could rekindle their love.
Yes they'd give all their life, if they knew
If they were certain that their efforts would save their relationship, they would give all they have.
The two lonely people sit silently staring
Once again, these two individuals sit mired in loneliness, unable to find their way back to love.
Their eyes looking coldly ahead
Their eyes remain empty and distant, bearing witness to the emptiness and futility of their loveless existence.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: BILL EVANS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind