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Bill Evans Works with Miles Davis

Donald Macleod explores how Evans's career took off after he started working with the great trumpeter Miles Davis and his ensemble.

He was called the Poet of the Piano, and the Chopin of Jazz, this week Donald Macleod delves into the life and music of Bill Evans. Although Evans started off in the world of classical music, it wasn't long before he got the Jazz bug. His classical training wasn't wasted though, for it went on to influence the way he performed for the rest of his life. His touch at the piano became legendary, and his preferred ensemble for performing his own compositions, and those by others, was the Jazz trio combining piano, bass and drums. Evans came to prominence when invited to work alongside Miles Davis and, in time, Evans would go on to perform with the likes of Tony Bennett, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Stan Getz and Monica Zetterlund.

Family was very important to the composer Bill Evans. His earliest musical influences came from his mother, and his most famous work, Waltz for Debbie, was inspired by his niece. Evans won a scholarship to Southeastern Louisiana University, and around the same period he composed his earliest known composition, 'Very Early'. After a brief spell in the army, and by the time he was twenty-six, Evans recorded an album called New Jazz Conceptions, which included his new work, 'No Cover, No Minimum'. Bill Evans was starting to make quite a name for himself, and then came the call from Miles Davis offering Evans the chance of performing alongside the legendary trumpeter and his ensemble.

1 hour

Last on

Mon 14 Nov 2016 18:30

Music Played

  • Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro & Paul Motian

    Waltz For Debby (Take 2)

    • Waltz for Debbie.
    • RIVERSIDE.
    • 2.
  • Bill Evans

    Waltz for Debbie

    Performers:Bill Evans

    • Riverside.
    • 12RCD018-2.
    • 11.
  • Bill Evans

    These Things Called Changes

    Performers:Bill Evans, Eddie Gomez, Shelly Manne

    • Verve.
    • 8377572.
    • 15.
  • Bill Evans

    Quiet Now

    Performers:Bill Evans, Eddie Gomez, Marty Morell

    • Affinity.
    • CHARLY25.
    • 3.
  • Bill Evans

    Very Early

    Performers:Bill Evans, Eddie Gomez, Marty Morell

    • LHJ.
    • LHJ10156.
    • 5.
  • Bill Evans

    Waltz for Debbie

    Performers:Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro, Paul Motian

    • Riverside.
    • OJCCD-210-2.
    • 3.
  • Bill Evans

    No Cover, No Minimum

    Performers:Bill Evans, Teddy Kotick, Paul Motian

    • Riverside.
    • 12RCD018-2.
    • 9.
  • Bill Evans

    Five

    Performers:Tony Scott, Bill Evans, Henry Grimes, Paul Motian

    • Jazz Door.
    • JD1236/1237.
    • 1.
  • BronisÅ‚aw Kaper

    On Green Dolphin Street

    Composer: Ned Washington. Performer: Miles Davis. Performer: Bill Evans. Performer: Cannonball Adderley. Performer: John Coltrane. Performer: Paul Chambers. Performer: Jimmy Cobb.
    • Jazz Beat.
    • 524.
    • 11.

Broadcasts

  • Mon 11 Nov 2013 12:00
  • Mon 11 Nov 2013 18:15
  • Mon 14 Nov 2016 12:00
  • Mon 14 Nov 2016 18:30

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