Wednesday, January 9th

by musicclipoftheday

Here, rehearsing, is the most influential pianist in jazz of the last fifty years.

Bill Evans (piano, 1929-1980), Eddie Gomez (bass), Alex Riel (drums), live, Denmark (Copenhagen), 1966

 

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lagniappe

musical thoughts

The ‘open’ voicings that Evans used [i.e., leaving out a chord’s root note] were not new . . . . They had been there in ‘classical’ music since the early part of the century, since Bartok and Stravinsky. But they were new to jazz, and they opened up melody and flow in new ways.

—Martin Williams, The Jazz Tradition (2d ed. 1983)

*****

Bill had this quiet fire that I loved on piano. The way he approached it, the sound he got was like crystal notes or sparkling water cascading down from some clear waterfall.

—Miles Davis, Miles: The Autobiography (with Quincy Troupe, 1989)