Articles

Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.

RADIO December 19, 2019

We Got the Skilz to Play the Billz

William, oh William, it was really nothing—but an all—Bill all the time podcast! At Mike's suggestion, this round's musicians are all named Bill. Heck, half of them are white guys named Bill Evans who gigged with Miles Davis. How's that for homogeneity? Don't fret—the other Bills at this party bring heavy-gauge avant credentials to balance things out. Pop matters swerves all over the road, ranging from The Negro Problem to Shaun Colvin. Playlist Discussion of Bill Evans' ...

RADIO October 1, 2019

The Piano Trios – Erroll Garner, Ahmad Jamal, and Bill Evans (1955 - 1961)

By Russell Perry

While there were influential piano trios in the 1940s (lead by Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Lennie Tristano, or Nat King Cole, for example), the format reached new peaks in the 1950s. In particular, Ahmad Jamal} and {{Bill Evans reconceived the format to stress the interplay of three artists, rather than a primary piano soloist with rhythm support. In this hour, we will hear from these pianists and from Erroll Garner, the work of each represented by a legendary live recording--Garner's ...

RADIO September 13, 2019

Bill Evans @ 90 and Day 3 "Bitches Brew"

By Marc Cohn

We start with 21st century music from guitarist Dave Stryker (coming to Southern Louisiana in October; heads up, y'all:), Geri Allen, David Weiss, Zhenya Strigalev and the Hi-Fly Orchestra. It's pianist Bill Evans birthday. Were he alive today, he would be celebrating his 90th. We have him at the Vanguard with his last trio, in a duo with guitarist Jim Hall, and a neglected session with flautist Jeremy Steig. We finish our 50th anniversary of Miles Davis' “Bitches Brew" with ...

MULTIPLE REVIEWS August 13, 2019

Resonance Records: The Art of the Sampler

By Geno Thackara

Resonance Records is a refreshing success story in the modern jazz world, still happily defying the norms of the streaming age with unflagging class and style. Even familiar listeners can lose sight of what a catalogue of material they've gathered, which is where 2019's handful of budget samplers come in. Co-president Zev Feldman declares that he's “always looking for ways to introduce the world to Resonance's records—both historical issues and also our tremendous current artists." With a snazzy set of ...

MULTIPLE REVIEWS May 17, 2019

Bill Evans and Wes Montgomery: Masters At Work

By Doug Collette

Any and every respectable collection of jazz music, whether digital or physical, should contain at least some of the works of pianist Bill Evans and guitarist Wes Montgomery. Icons of their respective instruments, both musicians also created varied ensemble templates of adventurous modern jazz, and while it is true many are already available in the marketplace, it's fairly safe to say none are any more lovingly or lavishly produced and packaged than a recent pair released on the Resonance label. ...

INTERVIEW April 5, 2019

Nenette Evans: My Life With Bill

By Bruce Guthrie

Originally from Southern California, Nenette Evans met and married Bill Evans in 1973. Ms. Evans now handles the legendary pianist and composer's estate along with attorney Steven Lowy and others. She is also involved with the Bill Evans Piano Academy in jny: Paris, France. I met Nenette through her friend Carol Baker and our work with the Chet Baker estate. In this interview, Nenette discusses how she met Bill Evans and her introduction to his music.

ALBUM REVIEW June 3, 2017

Bill Evans: Another Time: The Hilversum Concert

By Geno Thackara

As charmed good-luck magnets go, producer Zev Feldman is the jazz world's equivalent of the guy who keeps winning the lottery year after year. He and Resonance Records specialize in finding and curating unreleased gems to share with the wider world--not dodgy bootlegs, but quality material in terms of content and sound--and giving each discovery the respect it deserves. For such a legendary and extensively recorded artist as Bill Evans who's been gone almost four decades, it's easy to suspect ...