Talk:Bill Evans

Main source at the moment: the Pettinger book

I've found the book at Google Books [1], and I'm including everything I find interesting on the article. As you may have seen, some sections have grown a lot.

However, the preview is incomplete.

• From childhood to Everybody Digs Bill Evans, it's partly complete. Missing pages are: 14-15, 21-22, 28-29, 35-36, 42-43, 49-50, 56-57, 63-64, 70-71.
• From Kind of Blue on, it's missing most of the book (from 76 on).

Now I was working on the chapter "sideman" (ca.1957).

Thanks.--Fauban 13:05, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

Yes, the book is a good source. Other good sources are notes on Bill Evans vinyl LPs. Original LPs have good information about recording sessions and partnerships with other musicians who performed and recorded with Bill Evans.Steveshelokhonov 20:54, 17 June 2022 (UTC)

new 11 page memoir by Pat Evans about her brother-in-law Bill Evans

It is unfortunately that instead of improving it, somebody simply removed a startling new discovery I updated onto the Bill Evans entry about a new memoir about Bill written by Pat Evans, his sister-in-law. For goodness sake this is totally new information that the world is not aware of. Pat Evans completed the memoir in March 31 of 2011. It's a real shame somebody simply removed the reference instead of realizing its historical importance. The name of the pdf is: "The Two Brothers As I Knew Them Harry and Bill Evans As remembered by Pat Evans, wife of Harry Evans sister-in-law to Bill Evans"

  Here is the link:   http://harryevanstrio.com/The_Two_Brothers.pdf  

       Just to make sure this is not missed, below is a portion of the  text. 

The Two Brothers As I Knew Them Harry and Bill Evans As remembered by Pat Evans, wife of Harry Evans sister-in-law to Bill Evans © 2011 Matt H. Evans2

My First Glimpse of the Two Brothers What a strange pair, I thought. These two brothers, so opposite in looks and temperament. One tall, bespectacled, introspective, nasal voiced and slow moving. The other, short, muscular, convivial, rapid speaking, quick to laugh, and sauntering of movement.

... snip ....

His dying wish was to be buried next to his brother in Baton Rouge. I was walked to his grave by a small nondescript cemetery attendant, wearing a sailor cap, much like the one Harry used to wear in the Navy. I placed his ashes in the tomb next to his brother’s. They were together again. Wish granted, Bill Evans.

.... snip ...

I share these thoughts with you, as I sit in my Creole Cottage in Treme, in my native city, New Orleans on March 31, 2011. Many say jazz began here. I listen to Waltz for Debby, which Bill wrote for my daughter when she was three.

... snip ...

--RobertGloverJr (talk) 13:08, 30 January 2012 (UTC) --RobertGloverJr (talk) 13:05, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

— Preceding unsigned comment added by RobertGloverJr (talk • contribs) 05:02, 30 January 2012 (UTC) 

Hi, I've added some stuff from this document. Regards--Fauban 14:16, 25 July 2012 (UTC)

Adding some sources. Laurie Verchomin info

Interview with Laurie Verchomin http://www.jazzwax.com/2009/08/interview-laurie-verchomin-part-1.html http://www.jazzwax.com/2009/08/interview-laurie-verchomin-pt-2.html

Review of Verchomin's book (includes some info from it) http://www.billevanswebpages.com/biglove-varrallo.htm

Verchomin's page http://www.laurieverchomin.com/

Thanks--Fauban 10:23, 27 July 2012 (UTC)

Music section needs expansion

hello,

I will translate the style section from the German featured article, if you don't mind. It then, however, needs some copyedits as usual :). Regards.--GoP_T^C_N 18:10, 27 July 2012 (UTC)

Sounds good. Is it sourced, at all?Span (talk) 19:38, 27 July 2012 (UTC)

There are few sentences that are unsourced, but I think that is not a huge problem. I will work on this section after the Olympics, if that is not a problem. Regards.--Kürbis (✔) 14:09, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

A few more sources

Hi. This page has some info with exact sources (book and page). http://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com.es/2009/02/enrico-pieranunzi-bill-evans-pianist-as_27.html Thanks.--Fauban 13:10, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

I've just found an article on Evans by Chuck Israels: [[2]]--Fauban 09:44, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Incomplete sencente

"In 1958, Evans joined Miles Davis's sextet, where was to have a profound influence. In 1959, quintet, then immersed in modal jazz, recorded Kind of Blue, the best-selling jazz album of all time."

i think someone must've meant to describe this in more detail, only to leave out something crucial in the "quintet" area. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.249.185.2 (talk) 09:37, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

In fact, no. I didn't describe this in more detail because we cannot have an extremely long lead section. This lead is just meant to be a summary. I thought that sentence was long enough. If you're interested in his work with Miles Davis, check the section in the body of the article. I've written a lot of stuff about this. Cheers.--Fauban 18:42, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

Audio clip?

It may well be worth looking at adding audio clips to the article. There are very tight audio policy that would need to followed if we did add clips. Michael Jackson and Madonna (entertainer) show examples where copyrighted music samples are included. More info here. Span (talk) 15:39, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Hmm. Interesting. I've read the policies and checked your examples, and I think we could add a few audio files without any problems. My idea would be adding:

• The first 30s of Waltz for Debby (from the 1961 disc). -- Reason: It's his most famous composition.
• Something from Conversations with Myself. -- Reason: The relative novelty of the concept.
• The first 30s (or 10% of the total duration) of one of his improvisations (i.e. after having played the head). For example, something from Alone. -- Reason: To show his improvisatory style.

I could cut and edit the files myself. So what do you think?--Fauban 18:32, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

Phrase used too much

This article repeats the phrase "during this period," to a noticeable degree, leading one to consider alternatives.

Bill Evans During His time With Miles Davis-His Cold reception from African-Americans

I know that you don’t have the space to provide context to many of the critical points you cite in Bill’s musical life. However, you noting that during Bill’s time with Mile’s, that he (Bill) made an impact on Mile’s quintet. You further state that Bill was treated rather coldly by the largely African-American audience.

I am African-American, and a woman. I love Bill Evans, in fact, I am listening to him as I type this. However, I think that it was actually Bill who gained a lot of experience and exposure working with Miles, and that it was Bill who was more profoundly impacted and influence by this experience. Mile’s, just as Dizzy Gillespie and a host of other jazz geniuses, was mentors and provided development and exposure to so many great artists, including Keith Jarrett and others who were later influenced by Bill.

As far as Bill’s “cold” reception by the largely African-American audience. This had more to do with the times, and the history of white musicians getting more billing, musical exposure, lucrative contracts and historical credit for African-American musical and other creative art forms. Back then, even Miles could not sleep or even eat in the very hotels and other venues in which he played. Apartheid, intellectual theft of music and exploitation of African-American musicians was rampant. Unfortunately, white musicians, such as Bill became unwilling victims of Black anger and resentment, in this tragic aspect of American history. It is this historical point that I think would good to add context since you are noting that this did happen. I know, because I was born during that era and lived and witnessed many of these historical realities in America's history. 2602:304:AE56:6D09:688A:84AC:A9E4:C8BA (talk) 15:26, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Do you have books or magazines sustaining these claims? Better if they're specificlally about Bill Evans. I don't want to put WP:OR in this article.--Fauban 07:30, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

Chord

Under the "Music and style" section: The Viennese trichord is listed as "embellishing the first (C7) chord." This is technically correct, but misleading given the bass. Scott LaFaro is alternating between C and Db, and Evans' chord--(left hand) F-B-E (right hand) Bb Eb G Bb--falls on the off-beat Db at 0'03" in the recording. How to notate such a chord? It's clumsy, but either Eb/Db7#9 or Db9(#9#11b13) would work; Db7alt is ok too, though it doesn't account for the Eb in Evans' right hand. I suggest wording it this way: "A Viennese trichord as a part of G-z17, an altered dominant tritone substitution (Db7alt) in the key of C, from Bill Evans's opening to 'What Is This Thing Called Love?'"

Would change it myself but I don't understand Wikipedia. 218.88.108.13 (talk) 08:06, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

Thankyou. Astounding though that somebody with an even greater knowledge of complex jazz theory than myself can't work out click edit and simply click save... If somebody who's clearly intelligent like yourself can't work that out, what hope is there for the average person who wants to edit wikipedia!!♦ Dr. Blofeld 09:56, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

Has now been changed. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:02, 17 June 2022 (UTC)

Mobile Formatting for "College, army, sabbatical year" Title

When the title for the section "College, army, sabbatical year" is viewed on the Wikipedia app the characters are printed vertically. I think this may be an issue involving the two quote boxed right after the title but I'm not certain. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mduboef (talk • contribs) 22:30, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

Heroin

The article claims that Evans quit heroin in "the late 1970s." But in the biography How My Heart Sings, the story seems to be that Evans never used heroin after 1969. He was arrested at a major airport with the drug and quit at that point, whether or not he used methadone to keep himself from relapsing during the 1970s.Cdg1072 (talk) 04:37, 3 May 2020 (UTC) He was prescribed methadone after the arrest yes but I think he admitted to friends he used heroin again. One of the reasons his wife kicked him out of the family home was she found needles lying around and they had s young child. (Source for this - the documentary on Evans ‘Time Remembered’.2A00:23C4:B214:5E01:C160:55F9:7506:412 (talk) 13:17, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

Commons files used on this page or its Wikidata item have been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons files used on this page or its Wikidata item have been nominated for deletion:

• Bill Evans in 1933.jpg (discussion)
• Harry Evans.jpg (discussion)

Participate in the deletion discussions at the nomination pages linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 05:30, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Good sources of information are on original vinyl LPs

Original vinyl LPs recorded by Bill Evans in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s have detailed notes that are really good sources. Original LPs notes provide wealth of information about recording sessions and partnerships with other musicians who performed and recorded with Bill Evans.Steveshelokhonov 20:54, 17 June 2022 (UTC)

Orphaned references in Bill Evans

I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Bill Evans's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "AM":

• From Sunday at the Village Vanguard: Jurek, Thom. Bill Evans Trio: Sunday at the Village Vanguard – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
• From New Jazz Conceptions: Yanow, Scott. "New Jazz Conceptions > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved June 28, 2011.

Reference named "AAJ":

• From Sunday at the Village Vanguard: Bailey, C. Michael (November 1, 2005). "Bill Evans Trio: Sunday At The Village Vanguard & Waltz For Debby". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on April 26, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
• From New Jazz Conceptions: Rickert, David. "New Jazz Conceptions > Review". All About Jazz. Retrieved June 28, 2011.

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT⚡ 19:13, 19 June 2022 (UTC)