Borrowing heavily from the impressionism of Debussy and Ravel, pianist Bill… Read Full Bio ↴Borrowing heavily from the impressionism of Debussy and Ravel, pianist Bill Evans brought an introverted, relaxed, and lyrical classical sensibility into jazz. Along with his keen technical ability and nuanced sense of harmony, Evans worked to democratize the role of the bassist and drummer in his succession of piano trios, encouraging greater contrapuntal interplay. After gaining widespread attention as a member of Miles Davis' late-'50s group, Evans garnered further acclaim for his own work, leading a celebrated trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian and recording classic albums like 1960's Portrait in Jazz, 1961's At the Village Vanguard, and 1962's Waltz for Debby, the latter of which borrowed its title from the pianist's best-known composition. Following LaFaro's tragic death in 1961, Evans eventually forged a lasting creative partnership with bassist Eddie Gomez and continued to perform, working with drummers Jack DeJohnette and Marty Morell. He earned accolades including Grammy Awards for 1968's At the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1970's Alone, 1971's The Bill Evans Album, and 1979's We Will Meet Again. With the passage of time, Evans has become an entire school unto himself for pianists and a singular mood for listeners, leaving his mark on such noted players as Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, and Brad Mehldau.
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.
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.
Round About Midnight
Bill Evans Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It begins to tell
'Round midnight, midnight
I do pretty well, till after sundown
Suppertime I'm feelin' sad
But it really gets bad
'Round midnight
Memories always start 'round midnight
Haven't got the heart to stand those memories
When my heart is still with you
And ol' midnight knows it, too
When a quarrel we had needs mending
Does it mean that our love is ending
Darlin' I need you, lately I find
You're out of my heart
And I'm out of my mind
Let our hearts take wings'
'Round midnight, midnight
Let the angels sing
For your returning
Till our love is safe and sound
And old midnight comes around
Feelin' sad
Really gets bad
Round, Round, Round Midnight
'Round midnight, midnight
I do pretty well, till after sundown
Suppertime I'm feelin' sad
But it really gets bad
'Round midnight
Memories always start 'round midnight
When my heart is still with you
And ol' midnight knows it, too
When a quarrel we had needs mending
Does it mean that our love is ending
Darlin' I need you, lately I find
You're out of my heart
And I'm out of my mind
Let our hearts take wings'
'Round midnight, midnight
Let the angels sing
For your returning
Till our love is safe and sound
And old midnight comes around
Feelin' sad
Really gets bad
Round, Round, Round Midnight
The lyrics to Bill Evans's song ‘Round Midnight express the feelings of heartbreak and longing that arise at night when memories of a past love come flooding in. The first verse sets the stage by saying that the singer is doing pretty well until after sundown, when suppertime brings a feeling of sadness. But things really get bad 'round midnight, when memories of the lost love start to surface. The second verse delves into those memories and the pain they bring; even though the singer's heart is still with the lost love, a quarrel may have ended their relationship. The final verse offers a glimmer of hope, with the singer pleading for the lost love's return and for their hearts to take wings and be together once again.
Line by Line Meaning
It begins to tell
The feeling starts to surface
'Round midnight, midnight
At the time of midnight, exactly midnight
I do pretty well, till after sundown
I manage well until the sun sets
Suppertime I'm feelin' sad
During dinner, I feel melancholy
But it really gets bad
It becomes unbearable
'Round midnight
At midnight, exactly midnight
Memories always start 'round midnight
Recollections always begin at midnight
Haven't got the heart to stand those memories
I cannot bear those memories
When my heart is still with you
My heart is still longing for you
And ol' midnight knows it, too
Midnight is aware of it also
When a quarrel we had needs mending
When our argument needs to be resolved
Does it mean that our love is ending
Is our love coming to an end?
Darlin' I need you, lately I find
My dearest, I need you, lately I realize
You're out of my heart
You're no longer in my heart
And I'm out of my mind
And I'm going crazy
Let our hearts take wings'
Let our hearts soar
'Round midnight, midnight
At the time of midnight, exactly midnight
Let the angels sing
Let the celestial beings sing
For your returning
In anticipation of your return
Till our love is safe and sound
Until our love is secure and steady
And old midnight comes around
And old midnight arrives again
Feelin' sad
Feeling dejected
Really gets bad
Becomes exceedingly unbearable
Round, Round, Round Midnight
At midnight, exactly midnight
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Cootie Williams, Bernard D Hanighen, Theolonious S Monk
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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greati9
92ninersboy I was referring specifically to homophonic parallelism in Jazz harmony. Homophonic parallelism in Jazz goes all the way back to its roots in Blues, and ultimately African music.
However, when you specifically mention this Locked hands style. I Agree but with the stipulation that Bill evans hand his own locked hands style... its almost a completely different system of harmonizaiton from george shearing.
Although still recognizable as locked hands.
Bill evans harmonic vocabulary was (as you well know) was far more exploratory (i use that instead of advanced because older players new of these tonal concepts but did not explore them as much as more modern players ie scott joplin had 9ths in some of his compositions, and stride players ocacionall used 9ths and 13ths)
Bill Evans style of locked hands is extremely difficult to imitate. Just as mccoy tyners style is very difficult to true emulate.
But I must ask... Why do you say he stopped using it? is it due to its lack on records or live performances?? I know he had some interviews. but i dnt recall him mentioning it...
Caponsacchi
"Round Midnight" is a B**ch to learn. One thing that distinguishes the top pianists is their ability to supply extra harmonies and left-hand counter-voices at a moment's notice. Bill plays much of his solo with block chords (it's like arranging for 5 saxes on the fly), and as on his seminal version of "All of You" (the Vanguard Session of June 25, 1961)he places harmony notes about the melody note, yet retains the melodic line through selective finger pressure.
At least "Round Midnight"-
in Eb minor-doesn't have some of the tricky rhythms of other Monk tunes. Even "Blue Monk" has a hazard trap when the last phrase is a strong note played on the weak beat of the next-to-last measure (Coltrane doesn't risk playing that last phrase on the '57 Carnegie Hall concert discovered in this millennium).
"Mysterioso" is probably the easiest tune for any beginning pianist---basically 3-note phrases above middle Ci n the right hand (D Eb F Eb and G Ab Bb Ab) alternating (and starting in the left hand) with the 6th below (F G A G and Bb C D C). Play it for12 bars, then improvise on a blues in Bb.
On "Sonny Rollins, Volume 2" both Silver and Monk accompany Sonny on "Mysterioso."
vulgivagu
I am now 77 and I saw Bill Evan's back in the 1960's. He played at Ronnie Scott's original venue. The club was a very small and in such an intimate music setting it made Bill's music so intense. The guy was a genius but sadly had a tragic end. His legacy lives on in recordings but sadly the wonderful times I had in that club are now lost to memories. Everything changes I suppose
Andre Moreau
Evans has such a distinct voice on the piano. You can hear him play any piece and know it's him.
Ziza I Junior
huh, your right. Never thought of that before
Boris Katzmarzyk
As someone who is still trying to understand jazz, could you elaborate on what makes bill sound different than other jazz pianists?
Andre Moreau
@Boris Katzmarzyk I'm sure there are all sorts of technical explanations why, but I don't know any of them. I've listened to a lot of Bill Evans, and a lot of other people play piano. Bill Evans plays like a robot with emotions. He's so precise, so punctual, but there's something very emotional about the way he strikes the keys. 'Round Midnight is a great song to compare pianists to, because it's such a standard. Listen to Thelonious Monk play it, he composed it. Then check out how Michel Petrucciani, Herbie Hancock, and Chick Corea play it. Each will give you a different result.
Newyork Filharmonik
@Boris Katzmarzyk Bill changed the sound of the piano by eliminating the fundamental note in a chord, the root, so it has to sound different. Also he put a great pride in the rhythmic quality of is playing. The one times the other (not plus) creates a unique permutation that becomes familiar. It's a musical voice. When someone can imitate someone else speaking it's. for the same reasons but with different elements. They use certain words, and those words have a distinctive tone and rhythm. Bill created a dialect that many find useful in expressing themselves.
Newyork Filharmonik
@Andre Moreau I could listen to all of those guys play (add Bud Powell) and I could tell you who is not Michel Petrucciani. Doesn't take too long to tell who's who if you've listen to them enough...
92ninersboy
Remarkable! Bill's harmonic sensibility is so refined and so beautiful, talk about in-depth. Sweet Jesus! Listen to his lock-hands chordal improvisation starting around 1:58 - no one else did this with such sensitivity and exploratory reach, not George Shearing or any one else, and you don't hear it in the later players like Herbie, Chick of Keith - it's kind of a lost art, but Evans did it the best. Bill created his own musical world and in this performance he built off of Monk's conception and made it his own. I would have loved to have seen his hands through the entire piece - I don't really care about people walking around the streets when a musical messiah is in the moment, spreading the gospel.
greati9
for the record. Mcoy tyner uses block chords and pseudo black chord improvisatin all the time. Bud pwell used them too (mostly in trio and solo playing)
That and the block chord style was invented by Phillip Moore.
That said, bill Evans use of block chording improvisation hasn't received much attention, nor imitation. I dnt know why it sounds great.
92ninersboy
greati9 I wasn't saying that other players hadn't used locked-hand chord style, lots of them had in the bebop and late swing era. People always think of George Shearing as the one who made it a popular style, which he did. Milt Buckner is the guy who most often is associated with its origins, but who knows who really created it - it may have been Phil Moore or some obscure guy in a club that Buckner or someone else heard - that's how that stuff works. My point was the level of sophistication and sensitivity that Evans brought to the style (Tyner never took it to that level, if we're talking about true locked-hand). The great players after that era seem to not indulge in it at all - even Evans himself pretty much stopped, except occasionally. I happen to love the sound when it's done well.