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.
Time for Love
Bill Evans Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For hummingbirds and butterflies
For tender words that harmonize with love
A time for climbing hills
For leaning out of windowsills
Admiring daffodils above
A time for rainbow coloured weather
A time of make believe that we've been dreaming of
As time goes drifting by
The willow bends and so do I
But all my friends whatever skies above
I know a time for spring
A time for fall
But best of all
A time for love
A time for holding hands together
A time for rainbow coloured weather
A time of make believe that we've been dreaming of
As time goes drifting by
The willow bends and so do I
But all my friends whatever skies above
I know a time for spring
A time for fall
But best of all
A time for love
The lyrics of Bill Evans's song "Time for Love" artfully capture the beauty and joy of being in love, while also acknowledging the passage of time and the inevitability of change. The opening lines evoke the carefree spirit of summertime, with its colorful flora and fauna, as well as the tenderness and harmony that love can bring. The image of climbing hills and leaning out of windowsills captures the exuberance and excitement of being in love, while the mention of admiring daffodils above suggests the concept of "looking up" and aspiring to something greater than oneself.
The second verse continues with the theme of holding hands and experiencing the beauty of the world together with a partner, while the line "a time of make believe that we've been dreaming of" hints at the dreamy, otherworldly quality that love can bring. The final verse brings in a note of melancholy, as the willow tree (symbolic of change and impermanence) is mentioned, but the overall message is one of hope and optimism - that no matter what changes may come, there will always be a time for love. Through its beautiful poetry and poignant imagery, "Time for Love" captures the essence of what it means to be in the presence of true love.
Line by Line Meaning
A time for summer skies
A time when the skies are clear and the sun is shining, signifying happiness and joy.
For hummingbirds and butterflies
A time when nature is in full bloom and beautiful creatures like hummingbirds and butterflies are present, symbolizing the beauty of life.
For tender words that harmonize with love
A time for expressing love through gentle and sincere words, creating a harmonious bond between two individuals.
A time for climbing hills
A time for adventure and exploration, an opportunity to take on challenges and overcome obstacles.
For leaning out of windowsills
A time for taking in the beautiful view and enjoying the simple pleasures in life.
Admiring daffodils above
A time for appreciating the beauty of nature and its small wonders, like the delicate petals of a daffodil.
A time for holding hands together
A time for physical intimacy and emotional connection, emphasizing the importance of touch in a relationship.
A time for rainbow coloured weather
A time for diversity and inclusivity, celebrating the different colors and cultures of the world.
A time of make believe that we've been dreaming of
A time for imagination and creativity, where anything is possible and dreams can come true.
As time goes drifting by
As time passes and things change, we must adapt and evolve.
The willow bends and so do I
Symbolizes being flexible and adapting to change, just like how a willow tree bends with the wind.
But all my friends whatever skies above
Regardless of what challenges may arise, we have our friends to support and uplift us.
I know a time for spring
A time of rejuvenation and renewal, when new beginnings and growth are possible.
A time for fall
A time of reflection and letting go, symbolizing the natural cycle of life.
But best of all
Out of all the seasons and times, one stands out as the most special.
A time for love
The most special time of all, when we can share our hearts with another and experience the beauty of life together.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Johnny Mandel, Paul Francis Webster
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kent Hewitt
Can't imagine a world without Bill Evans.
John Reynolds
Hi Kent, I learned to play my first Bill Evans piece from your website and tutorial. Any wannabe pianists like me who want to improve their playing should check out Kent's website .
Sergei Rachmaninoff
yeah
spacemanbose
Kent is amazing teacher and very cool guy.
And of course, no words for the master Evans..
Darryl Schultz
No need to imagine a world without Bill Evans-you're in one!😟🤟😄
Александра Фабричникова
Из ❤России - с восхищением и любовью, величайшему мастеру гармонии и джазового звучания ! Билл Эванс - лучший из лучших музыкантов своего времени❤
M. Phillips
Bill Evans musical prowness, does not disappoint! The feeling from the notes played & heard upon the listener,
taps straight upon the heartstrings & reaches ones soul without any delay.
Soooooo beyond beautiful with each note played as we listen in awe.
José Linares Bezold
Bill Evans pone las notas más indicadas en cada frase de improvisación, sin acentos y buena combinación entre melodía y armonía. Un GRANDE por siempre.
Jon Weiss
fantastic performance. every note and chord is crystal clear, no blurring with the pedal.
Impeccable time. As a jazz pianist, he has few equals.
tiffsaver
Must have been all that great classical training...