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Donald Macleod explores Bill Evans's life during the early sixties

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.

Evans was now frequently in and out of studio recordings. Quite simply he needed the money. He'd borrowed money from loan sharks who were now threatening to break his fingers. One of these financially driven projects included his work Interplay, which on top of his usual trio line-up, also included trumpet and guitar. Evans's need for money was partly due to his drugs habit and, at times, Evans found himself making albums he just wasn't happy with. One work he was pleased with was Fudgesicle Built for Four, referring to a popular chocolate ice-cream from the time. There were also some interesting collaborations for Evans during this period, including the saxophonist Stan Getz, the vocalist Monica Zetterlund who Evans had met on tour in Sweden, the orchestral leader and arranger Claus Ogerman, and also a collaboration with himself using multi-track techniques in his number, NYC's No Lark.