Bill Evans is known as one of the most influential jazz pianists of all time. Borrowing heavily from the impressionism of Debussy and Ravel, “Evans brought a new, introverted, relaxed, lyrical, European classical sensibility into jazz.”

At 27, Evans recorded his first album New Jazz Conceptions (1956). He then got involved in an eight month gig with Miles Davis, where he was deeply involved in the planning and execution of Davis’s 1959 Kind of Blue (the biggest-selling acoustic jazz album of all time.) Afterwards, Evans formed and led the Bill Evans Trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian. The trio ended with Lafaro’s death in a 1961 car accident. However, after a period of seclusion, Evans returned in 1962 with his haunting, minimal album Undercurrent. He continued to maintain a steady presence in modern jazz until his death in 1980.

Since then, a flood of unreleased recordings from commercial and private sources have elevated interest in this pianist to an “insatiable level.”

Top Song