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Bill Evans

NTS aired an episode dedicated to the music of Bill Evans on 29 April 2022. Bill Evans has been played over 170 times on NTS, first on 12 April 2013. Bill Evans's music has been featured on 133 episodes.

Bill Evans (born William John Evans; 16th August 1929-15th September 1980) was one of the most famous jazz pianists of the twentieth century. Along with McCoy Tyner and Oscar Peterson, he was the force behind the biggest evolution in jazz piano since Art Tatum and Bud Powell.

His use of impressionistic harmony, his inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and his syncopated and polyrhythmic melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists, including Herbie Hancock, Denny Zeitlin, Chick Corea, and Keith Jarrett, and his work continues to inspire younger pianists such as Fred Hersch, Bill Charlap, and Lyle Mays, as well as other musicians such as guitarist John McLaughlin.

He worked briefly with Miles Davis and was the pianist on all but one track of Kind of Blue (1959). In fact, although "Blue in Green" is credited to Davis, Evans always claimed that it was his own composition and that some years later Davis gave him $25 as compensation for lost royalties.

Evans won seven Grammys during his career, the first for Conversations with Myself (1963) although not for his most celebrated work, Sunday at The Village Vanguard (1961) with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian.

In 1994, Bill Evans was posthumously awarded a "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) "for altering the course of jazz piano with his lyrical, impressionistic solo and trio recordings, characterised by the understated intensity, distinctive chord voicings, and unique harmonic sensibility that opened up the vocabulary of modern jazz".

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Bill Evans

NTS aired an episode dedicated to the music of Bill Evans on 29 April 2022. Bill Evans has been played over 170 times on NTS, first on 12 April 2013. Bill Evans's music has been featured on 133 episodes.

Bill Evans (born William John Evans; 16th August 1929-15th September 1980) was one of the most famous jazz pianists of the twentieth century. Along with McCoy Tyner and Oscar Peterson, he was the force behind the biggest evolution in jazz piano since Art Tatum and Bud Powell.

His use of impressionistic harmony, his inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and his syncopated and polyrhythmic melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists, including Herbie Hancock, Denny Zeitlin, Chick Corea, and Keith Jarrett, and his work continues to inspire younger pianists such as Fred Hersch, Bill Charlap, and Lyle Mays, as well as other musicians such as guitarist John McLaughlin.

He worked briefly with Miles Davis and was the pianist on all but one track of Kind of Blue (1959). In fact, although "Blue in Green" is credited to Davis, Evans always claimed that it was his own composition and that some years later Davis gave him $25 as compensation for lost royalties.

Evans won seven Grammys during his career, the first for Conversations with Myself (1963) although not for his most celebrated work, Sunday at The Village Vanguard (1961) with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian.

In 1994, Bill Evans was posthumously awarded a "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) "for altering the course of jazz piano with his lyrical, impressionistic solo and trio recordings, characterised by the understated intensity, distinctive chord voicings, and unique harmonic sensibility that opened up the vocabulary of modern jazz".

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Artist in focus

Most played tracks

Peace Piece
Bill Evans
Milestone Records1975
What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?
Bill Evans
MGM Records1970
Soirée
Bill Evans
MGM Records1970
Spartacus Love Theme
Bill Evans, Jeremy Steig
Verve Records1969
Peace Piece
Bill Evans
Original Jazz Classics1997
When I Fall In Love
Bill Evans
Milestone1989
Lullaby For Helene
Bill Evans
MGM Records1970
Blue In Green
Bill Evans
Milestone Records1991
You Must Believe In Spring
Bill Evans
Warner Bros. Records1981
Detour Ahead
Bill Evans
Milestone Records1984

Tracks featured on