Bill Evans (1929–1980) was an American jazz pianist whose trio with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian rewrote what a piano trio could be, right after his central role on Miles Davis's Kind of Blue. Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby (both 1961) are the desert-island pair — start with either. Find Bill Evans vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
William John Evans was born in Plainfield, New Jersey on August 16, 1929. After graduating from Southeastern Louisiana College, he moved to New York and worked with George Russell, Tony Scott, and others. He joined Miles Davis's sextet in 1958 and was a central voice on Kind of Blue (1959), one of the most influential jazz albums ever recorded. He formed his first major trio with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian in 1959; LaFaro's death in a car accident in 1961 ended that trio. Evans continued leading trios until his death in New York on September 15, 1980, from health complications related to long-term drug addiction.
Evans's playing was characterized by lyrical, harmonically sophisticated approach to jazz piano, drawing on impressionist classical influences (Debussy, Ravel) alongside jazz traditions. His first trio with LaFaro and Motian developed an unprecedented level of interactive group improvisation, with bass and drums functioning as equal melodic voices rather than purely supporting roles. His work fundamentally reshaped jazz piano playing and trio formats for subsequent generations.
Original Riverside and Verve pressings of the Bill Evans catalog are foundational items in jazz collecting. Multiple reissue programs (Original Jazz Classics, Verve By Request, Tone Poet) have issued audiophile editions of the catalog. The Sunday at the Village Vanguard / Waltz for Debby sessions have been issued in complete versions and box sets.
Listeners new to Bill Evans typically start with Waltz for Debby (1961) or Sunday at the Village Vanguard (1961). Portrait in Jazz (1960) is a common second entry point.
