![]() ![]() Yet Evans’ repertoire was very narrow: there are some originals ( Nardis, Waltz for Debby, Letter to Evan) but mostly he calls upon The Great American Songbook, material that can, in other hands, veer into cocktail jazz. You can build a whole career just exploring what he put down.’Īlex Webb, once of the Barbican’s Contemporary Music Department and now an educator and author (the show café Society Swing is his), and a talented pianist and songwriter, agrees: ‘His work is an absolute textbook for piano players – you never get to the end of studying Bill Evans.’ Simon Wallace: ‘As Chuck Israels, one of his great bass players, says, in some ways Evans’ time still hasn’t come. ![]() There are scores of others who could be added to that roll call, without compromising its quality.ĭespite the apparent limitations of a piano-bass-drums set-up, each of the above demonstrates in a different way just how malleable the basic paradigm is, and every one of the outfits owes a debt to Bill Evans. The Igor Gehenot Trio from Belgium manages to conjure the spirt of Ahmad Jamal and keith jarret while adding something fresh. (Jazz is still huge in Italy: even Mussolini’s son Romano had a piano trio). Italians revere the Alboran Trio and the bands of Franco d’Andrea and Stefano Bollani. America’s The Bad Plus and Brad Mehldau Trio turn Abba, Oasis and Radiohead into harmonically complex three-part work-outs, while Australasia has the genre-busting Aronas and Trichotomy threesomes. Elsewhere, Keith Jarrett’s venerable The Standards Trio is still excavating the mysteries of the like of Lerner and Loewe Sweden’s EST (sadly terminated by Esbjorn Svenson’s untimely death) added electronic textures to the format, while Norway’s Tord Gustavson brings hymn-like grace to his tunes. Manchester’s Go-Go Penguin bring Aphex Twin and Steve Reich to the party, with exhilarating results. In the UK we have Gwilym Simcock, blurring the boundaries by nudging piano jazz towards classical music, Neil Cowley pushing the other way into hook-laden riffs, Kit Downes gliding effortlessly between the two and James Pearson at Ronnie’s on blistering form. You think it’s been around forever, but that first trio set the blueprint.’Īnd the soaring edifice constructed from that blueprint is in rude health across the globe. As James Pearson, the house pianist at Ronnie’s, says: ‘Bill Evans invented the piano trio as we know it today. It seems for most jazzers, the first time they heard the man, either live or on record, is seared into their memory. When I mention the name Bill Evans even the most reticent and taciturn of players dig into their satchel of superlatives. It is an Oscar Peterson tribute night at Ronnie’s, and again the place is full of musicians, both veteran and tyro. The day after that a gig came in playing piano six nights a week.’ The next morning I called up the solicitor’s office and said: I can’t take the job. I stood next to Andre Previn for one set. ‘It was just beautiful,’ he says, echoing what keyboard colossus Keith Jarrett said about the first time he saw Evans (when Jarrett was 15). Bill Evans is playing over the speakers – on Stolen Moments by Oliver Nelson – and Wallace is recalling the night he saw the great pianist take to the small stage. Simon Wallace, now a professional songwriter and of late the piano player with The Waterboys, is sitting at the bar with me. Only then does Simon Wallace realise the bearded, jittery American is none other than the legendary genius of the piano, Bill Evans. Ronnie Scott looks them over with his famously gimlet eye. When they get to the club in Frith St, the American greets the owner and says: ‘Hey, Ronnie. Wallace’s girlfriend finally appears and the three set off for Ronnie’s. The pair chat some more and Wallace notices how much the man’s hands shake as he lights his cigarette. In fact, Wallace has just applied for a job as a proof reader in a solicitor’s office. Yes, Wallace replies, explaining that he, too, is a piano player, although not in Bill’s league, but has latterly become disillusioned with the music business. Wallace explains he is going to the club himself to see pianist Bill Evans, one of his heroes. I’ve been there before, but I can’t seem to get my bearings.’ I’m looking for Ronnie Scott’s jazz club. ![]() A thin, middle-aged American, despite the warmth, wearing a thick overcoat, stops and asks for help: ‘Sorry, I’m kinda lost. As the heat of the summer’s day fades, Simon Wallace, regular pianist at the soon-to-be-legendary Blitz Club, is standing on the corner of Poland and Oxford Streets, waiting for his girlfriend. It’s a long piece, but then so was Bill’s career. The quotes from various pianists are from a few years ago when I last dusted it off, but they all remain bang on the money. ![]() It inspired me to dig out an old piece I wrote about him. Bill Evans is Radio 3’s Composer of the Week this week. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |