Welcome to billevanswebpages.com
Dedicated
to the life and music of pianist and composer BILL EVANS (1929-1980),
one of the most important and influential musicians in all of
jazz history. News, CD and DVD reviews, essays and articles,
recording catalog, interviews, sidemen info, sound samples,
biography, etc.
. We try to update at least once every few weeks,
as circumstances warrant, so come by again soon. If you're new to Bill Evans, you can start your journey
HERE.
We
welcome you to send email with
your comments or questions...or any reviews or articles you
may want us to consider for inclusion on this website.
All will be read and answered as time permits. Thank you!

COMING IN JUNE:
ALBUM OF THE MONTH -a new regular feature, where
we will look at a particular Evans album
in retrospect, one each month or so. First up will be the Grammy®-winning
"At the Montreux Jazz Festival", which was recorded
'live' forty years ago this June. If any of you writer types would
like to contribute such a retro-review for future inclusion here,
please
email me soon!
RARE
VIDEO - NOT ON YOUTUBE - THE TRIO WITH HERB GELLER (1972) |
The
Bill Evans Trio (with Eddie Gomez and Marty Morell) toured Europe
in the early months of 1972. On February 12, German broadcasters
filmed their rehearsal with reedman Herb Geller, (here on alto
flute) who appeared with them the following night in their concert
in Hamburg. The film is out-of-sync in the middle, but corrects
itself soonafter. "Northern Trail', an original by Mr.Geller,
is the tune being played. This clip is also of great interest
since we also get a rare glimpse of Ellaine (in the white turtleneck
sweater), Bill's lady during those years, in the background.
See the video here.
| UPDATED:
"ELIANE ELIAS SINGS AND PLAYS BILL EVANS"- NEW
CD |
The
fine pianist and vocalist Eliane Elias (who is married to former
Evans bassist Marc Johnson) was just featured on the March 2008
cover of the jazz periodical JazzTimes.
Her recent Blue Note release"Something For You:
Eliane Elias Sings and Plays Bill Evans" has been
garnering some good reviews, and she's currently doing some
dates with her band in Europe. The album features standards
closely associated with Bill (like the Brazilian tune "Minha",
"A Sleepin' Bee", "My Foolish Heart"). However,
according to my recent conversation with Judy Bell at TRO (Bill's
publisher), perhaps the most intriguing thing of all is the
CDs inclusion of a tune or two Bill was writing before he passed
on, that he gave to Marc on cassette tape. These have never
been recorded, and an exceprt is included.
See
Eliane Elias own site for more infoon this CD.
Also check out the allaboutjazz.com review - their piece is
entitled
"Something
for Bill (Evans)"
QUOTE OF THE MONTH |
"Bill
Evans was articulate, forthright,gentle,majestic, witty
and very supportive. His goal was to make music that balanced
passion and intellect, that spoke directly to the heart"
--- Eddie Gomez
"V.I.P.s
THEME" CD RE-RELEASED. WHY? |
This
1963 session, conceived by producer Creed Taylor, was not even
released as part of the "Complete Verve" CD boxset,
so one wonders why their current parent company would bother
putting it out now at all? The bigger question for those who
run the Verve catalog is: why not re-release (in America)
the "What's New" album- the trio with flautist Jeremy
Steig? That one is only available as a $40 import from Japan!)
As for "V.I.P.s" , Bill told Downbeat in November
1964 that he did not really know it was going to be a pop record
when he got into the studio, but said "...I've played lots
of lousy jobs, and lousy music; certainly this is nice, and
pleasing, a lot better than the things I'm referring to".
However, he also seriously considered using the Russian derivitive
of his name on the cover, so one can make one's own conclusions.
Claus Ogerman (uncredited) did the competent but sugary arrangements
of such tunes as "On Broadway", and movie and TV themes
like "Man with the Golden Arm", "Mr. Novak"
and "Monco Cane" ['More than the greatest love..'
etc.) If there are Evans fans who haven't heard this heretofore
unavailable record, be forewarned: this is "nice"
as Bill said --in a muzak
sort of way, but probably for Bill
Evans completists only.
|
NPR's
BILL
EVANS DOCUMENTARY"
- JAZZ PROFILES with NANCY WILSON" |
Many
jazz fans listen to NPR's "Jazz Profiles" radio
program, a series of biographies of jazz greats, hosted by Nancy
Wilson. On February 27th, their profile on Bill Evans was aired.
In my view, it rates as one of the very best ever done on the
pianist,
and it's now available as a FREE download
on the NPR site. Lots of great music, of course,
and various interview excerpts with Bill himself are featured,
as are the late Helen Keane (!), Gene
Lees,
Marc
Johnson, Eddie Gomez,
Paul Motian, Andy Laverne and others.
Believe
me, you want to hear this one.
|
VIDEO
- "PORTRAIT OF BILL" - ORRIN KEEPNEWS |
Record
producer/writer Orrin Keepnews is featured in a series of short
videos about the major artists whose music he produced at Riverside
Records. Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, Cannonball Adderley,
McCoy Tyner and others have been profiled, and in this new
installment, he talks about working with Bill Evans, and the
"Portrait in Jazz" album. our thanks to
Bret Primack, known as "JazzVideoGuy" on YouTube,
where you can see other
fine jazz videos.
|
OUR NEW
REVIEW OF "THE MASTERY OF BILL EVANS" BOOK |
 |
Check
out Jan Stevens' new review
of the great new book of Pascal Wetzel's Bill Evans excellent
piano transcriptions,
"THE
MASTERY OF BILL EVANS".
Includes
analysis and some actual excerpts from the
book. |
| THE
COMPLETE 'LIVE AT RONNIE SCOTT'S" NOW ON CD |
The Bill Evans Trio with Marc Johnson and Joe LaBarbera last
performed at Ronnie Scott's famed London jazz club July 21st
and August 2nd, 1980. "Letter To Evan" was the title
of the CD released by Drefus of the July gig, and the August
performance was put out by Dreyfus as "Turn Out the Stars".
Now all in one place, both nights are in one 2-CD set on the
MSI Music/Super D (?) label.
Amazon.com
link
| NPR
DOCUMENTARY ON BILL EVANS IN 1962 |
"After
the Vanguard: The Return of Bill Evans"
is a radio documentary produced by WFIU (Indiana University),
an NPR outlet. The period of time after June 1961 was a deeply
troubling one for the pianist, after suffering the loss of his
bassist and "musical soulmate" Scott LaFaro. He refused
to even play any piano for months, and went deeper into his
drug habit -- though when he later returned to the recording
scene in 1962, he was more prolific than ever.
There are, of course, lots of great Evans recordings to hear,
including some sideman dates (with Dave Pike, Herbie Mann, Tadd
Dameron et al, and the aborted April 4, 1962 solo-piano session)
that you really ought to hear if you haven't yet. Treat yourself
and listen now onlne here.
| BILL
EVANS NEWSLETTERS- NOW ONLINE |

This
is huge: between Autumn 1989 and the summer of 1994, a (hard
copy) newsletter dedicated solely to the music of Bill Evans
was
published by well-known Evans historian and bassist Win
Hinkle. (Those who have appreciated Bill's work since that
time may have seen references about Win and his published material
included in both the Peter Pettinger and Keith Shadwick books--
and on Bill's life - and in this website as well.) "Letter
From Evans" was available by subscription
only back then, but now Win has made all twenty-six issues available
online in .pdf files-- and it's all free!
During
it's five-year run, LFE featured Evans news, album reviews,
commentary, analysis, transcriptions and many exclusive
interviews done mostly by Win with some folks you just
might have heard of: Keith Jarrett, Marc Johnson, Steve Allen,
Earl Zindars, Joe LaBarbera, Henry Mancini, Chuck Israels, Mundell
Lowe, Jimmy Rowles, Denny Zeitlin and many others --
to name just a few!
Some rare interviews with Bill himself appeared in the newsletter
too, as did a number of nifty transcrptions of Evans solos --
many that were not available elsewhere. Just a few of those
who contributed articles or reviews included musicians like
Jack
Reilly, Hal Galper, Kenny Werner, Richie Bierach,
Evans archivist Ron Nethercutt and, in fact, yours truly (Jan
Stevens).
For
those Bill Evans fans and jazz listeners who haven't seen any
issues of "Letter From Evans", you're in for
quite a treat. They are all filled with loads of unique material
on Bill -- and some related jazz from that time period-- that
you just won't find anywhere else. Once again, the files of
all issues are now free (though Win has mentioned at his blog
that those who may wish to can contribute, just to help defray
all the expense).
To get started , you'll need the free Adobe PDF reader.
Then just copy and paste http://www2.selu.edu/orgs/34skid/html/3.pdf
where 3.pdf where "3" is the number of the issue you
want to request, 1 through 26-- corresponding to each of the
26 issues.
Obviously,
if you're an Evans aficianado, or even a casual fan, this is
big news. Since I was a subscriber myself then, of course, I
have all these issues -- but honestly, I couldn't be more thrilled,
just thinking about all the good stuff some of you will soon
be looking at. For further information, check out
Win's blog, since he'll likely be posting more on all this
soon.
Or, at least email him and say thanks!
-JS
DO IT NOW! Get the .zip file of "Letter
From Evans". A reader of the popular "Rifftides"(Doug
Ramsey's excellent jazz blog), Ken Deifik, has enabled a downloadable
.zip
of the entire run here. It's over 300 mgs, so be advised.
You
better act quickly, it won't be up for very long! Thanks, Ken!
(and thanks to Doug as well!)
NOTES
AND DISCLAIMERS:
This
tribute website is intended for educational and informational
purposes only. It
is a not-for-profit endeavor and we do not solicit nor accept
any contributions, nor do we sell any products, music transcriptions,
ad space, or other Bill Evans- related or jazz-related services
whatsoever.
This website is not affiliated with any record company or
publisher, nor with the Estate of Bill Evans. Any ads
or logos to featured jazz sites are purely promotional as a
recommended site, and are unsolicited and done for free.
Also: many musicians and fans have contacted us and asked
about obtaining Bill Evans piano transcriptions. Sorry, but
we do not provide these for various copyright reasons. The webmaster
(a pianist) has studied many Evans solo transcriptions, and
various transcriptions by both amateurs and professionals are
available on the Web. Though we do not endorse or specifically
recommend these, you can see a few links to transcriptions on
our LINKS page and for info on where to
purchase music books of various Evans collections. Many are
able to be obtained from TRO Music, Inc., distributed by Hal Leonard, Inc.,
and other authorized companies which pay licensing fees and
have permissions to reproduce original musical compositions
and transcriptions.
NOTE:
The textual information and HTML within is proprietary content
and cannot be copied digitally, electronically or otherwise
for use on the Web or other media without permission. If you
wish to use any content here, (Other than brief quotes or paragrapgh
use under the Fair Use Doctrine) or have a BLOG, simply email
us for permission before copying reviews and or other materials.
Thank you.
We kindly ask that you please
do not email to ask "What album is "[whatever song]
on?". Our discography of
Bill Evans' recording history (1956 through 1980) --though in
need of some updating for recent reissues -- gives as much detailed
and complete information as possible. Thank you.
OUR
NEW DVD and VIDEO PAGE - and BILL "AT THE MOVIES"
MIKE HARRIS -
("Secret Sessions" CD boxset) profile article
"BILL EVANS" - our DVD review of the
rare
Italian documentary from 1996
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MAY 2008 by Jan Stevens |