Jazz Articles about Orrin Evans

About Orrin Evans

Album Review

Orrin Evans' Captain Black Big Band: Mother's Touch

Read "Mother's Touch" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
April 16, 2014

Nobody does big bands these days. Nobody. Not without institutional support like a university or a foundation. Not unless you are Orrin Evans. The Philadelphia pianist writes and arranges music so appealing, a revolving cast of musicians can't resist playing his music. While we will never see an independent outfit like the Captain Black Big Band, which can swell to thirty plus musicians, touring for months on end, their occasional gigs and recordings are a godsend. The studio ...

Live Review

Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola

by Keith Henry Brown
October 26, 2013

Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band Dizzy's Club Coca Cola New York, NY October 6, 2013 Though the band leader/pianist /composer Sun Ra spoke of being part of an “Angel Race" from Saturn, his music, as avant-garde as it could sometimes be, was for the large part, accessible. One of his lifetime heroes was Duke Ellington, not just for his ability to lead a brilliant orchestra, but also for the ...

Album Review

Orrin Evans: Flip The Script

Read "Flip The Script" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
June 17, 2012

Pianist Orrin Evans' last three outings for the Posi-Tone label have been vastly different from one another. He forged new, edgy frontiers as part of the collectively formulated Tarbaby on The End Of Fear (Posi-Tone, 2010), put his own unique stamp on the big band format with the bold Captain Black Big Band (Posi-Tone, 2011), and gave a nod to Philadelphia, the city that formed and nurtured him, on the mostly trio-based Freedom (Posi-Tone, 2011). Flip The ...

Album Review

Orrin Evans: Flip The Script

Read "Flip The Script" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
May 23, 2012

In the wrong hands, the contemporary piano trio can sound like a retread of piano trios since the dawn of popular music. In the right hands it remains a potent force: exciting, engaging, full of imagination and capable of flights of invention. The hands of Orrin Evans are the right hands. The Philadelphia-born pianist is approaching 20 years as a recording artist and, by the sound of Flip The Script, he's in one of his most creative periods to date.

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Album Review

Orrin Evans: Freedom

by Dan Bilawsky
June 22, 2011

Philadelphia was a symbol of freedom long before Elton John ever penned his well-known tribute to tennis legend Billy Jean King. The city was a hotspot for American revolutionaries when the British were running the show, and Philadelphia played host to the First Continental Congress and the Second Continental Congress, which signed the Declaration of Independence. This city has come to represent the ideals of freedom within American society, and its rich jazz history is a reflection of the city's ...

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Album Review

Orrin Evans: Freedom

Read "Freedom" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
June 22, 2011

Orrin Evans' first three Posi-Tone releases formed a diverse but high-quality trilogy: the piano trio (Faith In Action, 2010); the freer, more left-field small band (Tarbaby's End Of Fear, 2010); and the hard-blowing and exciting big band (Captain Black Big Band, 2011). Hot on their heels comes Freedom, Evans' fourth album in less than two years. The quality remains high. Freedom harks back to the lineup and style of Faith In Action. Evans' home town of Philadelphia ...

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Album Review

Captain Black Big Band: Captain Black Big Band

Read "Captain Black Big Band" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
April 7, 2011

Pianist Orrin Evans has been on a roll, with the release of a couple of diamond Posi-Tone releases in 2010: Faith in Action -- dedicated to friend and mentor, saxophonist Bobby Watson--and the old school yet highly progressive thinking of The End of Fear , with Tarbaby trio-mates, drummer Nasheet Waits and bassist Eric Revis. But the truth of the matter is that Evans has been an active participant in the game for awhile, with numerous roles (leader, educator, and ...