The Greatest Jazz Pianist

I know I've focused on the lives of classical composers up to this point, but I can't pass up the opportunity to highlight someone with just as much talent and musicianship as those I've previously blogged about.

The great American jazz pianist Bill Evans was born on this date in 1929 in New Jersey. Even though I'm such a die-hard classical music fan, I've gotten into jazz as a result of Bill Evans, and I've learned parts of his pieces by ear because the sounds and rhythms he produced so intrigue me.

From the wikipedia article: "In addition to introducing a new freedom of interplay within the piano trio, Evans began (in performances such as "My Foolish Heart" from the Vanguard sessions) to explore extremely slow ballad tempos and quiet volume levels which had previously been virtually unknown in jazz. His chordal voicings became more impressionistic, reminiscent of classical composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Scriabin, and Satie..."

Perhaps that's why I like his music so much - I love the music of these composers! Here's a lovely performance of the above-mentioned "My Foolish Heart" from 1965. He sure plays and looks like a serious musician - no flamboyance here, just pure music.

The first music I heard of Bill Evans was his solo album "Alone". It is amazing stuff. Here's the opening number on that album, "Here's That Rainy Day", and here is another number, "On A Clear Day".

Here are some other highlights, from the Bill Evans Trio:
Waltz for Debby, George Gershwin's Summertime, and Nardis.

Bill Evans was also an educator, and he had some interesting ideas about composing, improvising, and performing, as viewed here, an excerpt from the film, "The Universal Mind of Bill Evans". Evans makes the case that improvisational jazz is really a compositional form - a looking back to the days of Bach, Mozart, Chopin, etc., in which composers and performers were one and the same, and composing 1 minute of music often took place in 1 minute, not in days or months (Bach was the ultimate improviser, and many of his compositions sound like improvisatory material). Interesting thoughts.

Tragically, Evans struggled with an addiction to heroin probably since the 1950's, which he seemed to overcome, only later to get hooked on cocaine. Drugs undoubtedly contributed to his early death in 1980. Here is an amazing performance of In Your Own Sweet Way one year prior to his death, with his last trio. He sure looks different here!

I hope you've enjoyed this detour into the world of jazz, highlighting one of it's most talented composers/performers.