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Born on August 16
Evans grew up in North Plainfield, New Jersey, the son of Harry and Mary Evans. His father was of Welsh descent and ran a golf course; his mother was of Rusyn ancestry and descended from a family of coal miners.The marriage was stormy because of his father's heavy drinking, gambling, and abuse.Bill had a brother, Harry (Harold), two years his senior, with whom he was very close. -
Musical Education
In September 1946, Evans attended Southeastern Louisiana University. He studied classical piano interpretation with Louis P. Kohnop, John Venettozzi, and Ronald Stetzel. -
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Army
During his three-year period in the Army,Evans played flute, piccolo, and piano in the Fifth U.S. Army Band at Fort Sheridan. -
Musical Education and the Village Vanguard
Evans returned to New York City and enrolled in the Mannes College of Music for a three-semester postgraduate course in music composition. He was also playing solo opposite the Modern Jazz Quartet at the Village Vanguard club, where one day he saw Miles Davis listening to him. -
Kind of Blue
Evans formally joined the Miles Davis group in April 1958. In early 1959 they recorded "Kind of Blue", often considered the best-selling jazz album of all time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDqULFUg6CY -
Trio with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian
The trio with LaFaro and Motian became one of the most celebrated piano trios in jazz. With this group Evans's focus settled on traditional jazz standards and original compositions, with an added emphasis on interplay among band members. Evans and LaFaro would achieve a high level of musical empathy. In December 1959 the band recorded its first album, "Portrait in Jazz" for Riverside Records.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5eypUpQc7M -
LaFaro's death
The death of 25-year-old LaFaro in a car accident, ten days after the Vanguard performances, devastated Evans. He did not record or perform in public again for several months. -
Waltz for Debby
In 26 of June 1961, Riverside recorded Evans' trio live at the Village Vanguard, which resulted in the album "Sunday at the Village Vanguard", and in 1962 the classic "Waltz for Debby".
LaFaro never saw the outcome of those recordings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk4D7N0pzGs -
First Grammy award
In 1963, at the beginning of his association with Verve records, he recorded "Conversations with Myself", an album which featured overdubbing, layering up to three individual tracks of piano for each song. The album won him his first Grammy award. -
Bill Evans meets Eddie Gómez
In 1966, Bill Evans met Juilliard-graduated bassist Eddie Gómez. Gómez sparked new developments in Evans's trio conception. One of the most significant releases during this period is "Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival" (1968), which won him his second Grammy award. It has remained a critical favorite, and is one of two albums Evans made with drummer Jack DeJohnette.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa6maJrd3xw&list=PLfJndz0utgONmiKDCFEW-qf_UBwgt78XH -
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Bill Evans Trio
Bill Evans with Eddie Gomez experienced both professional successes and personal challenges during the period from 1966 to 1977. In 1977, Gomez left the Bill Evans Trio to pursue his career as a bandleader and explore his vast range of musical interests. -
Drug addiction
In the early 1970s, Evans was caught at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport with a suitcase containing heroin. Although the police put him in jail for the night, he was not charged. However, he had to begin methadone treatment. -
The Bill Evans Album
Between May and June 1971, Evans recorded "The Bill Evans Album" ,released in september 1971 which won two Grammy awards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE_2YHBktE8 -
Bill Evans marriage
In August 1973, Evans married Nenette Zazzara , and in 1975, they had a child, Evan Evans. -
His brother Harry's suicide
In the spring of 1979, Evans learned that his brother, Harry, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, had died by suicide at age 52.
Marc Johnson recalled: "Bill's willingness to play and work decreased noticeably after the death of Harry, actually it was just the music itself that held him upright. These were the few moments in his life when he felt comfortable the times in between must have been depressing, and he barely showed a willingness to live." -
We will meet again
In August 1979, Evans recorded his last studio album, "We Will Meet Again", featuring a composition of the same name written for his brother. The album won a Grammy award posthumously in 1981, along with "I Will Say Goodbye". -
Bill Evans death
On September 15, 1980, Evans, who had been in bed for several days with stomach pains at his home in Fort Lee, was accompanied to the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, where he died that afternoon.
He was interred in Baton Rouge, next to his brother Harry. -
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 1994, he was posthumously honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.