Pianists influenced by Bill Evans

Jack Clark · #1 01-31-2010, 08:28 AM

I spent a while thinking about how to phrase this question, so I hope I got it right:

Who are the pianists whose playing you feel has been most strongly influenced by Bill Evans.

. . . whether the pianists would admit to it or not, and entirely apart from any type of substance abuse considerations, if any.

Marcus Johnson · #2 01-31-2010, 05:18 PM

It would probably be easier to list the pianists who weren't influenced by him. Even post-Bill players with very strong musical personalities (McCoy, Chick, Herbie, etc) show strong ties to Bill on early recordings. There are some early Keith Jarrett trio sides that are clearly in Bill's mode.

Of the later players, the ones that pop into my mind immediately are Bill Charlap, Fred Hersch, Brad Mehldau, Lyle Mays, and Eliane Elias.

BigOldHarry · #3 01-31-2010, 05:21 PM

Exactly. If you play jazz piano, you are influenced by Evans, much as if you play AND R&B, you were influenced by JJ.

Marcus Johnson · #4 01-31-2010, 05:43 PM

I could probably mention Seattle's Jerry Gray. He wrote some good books that help to dissect what makes Bill tick (among other things)... http://www.worldjazzscene.com/jeromegray.html I have this material, it's fun to mess around with. Mike Buono told me; "When I play that book, I instantly sound hip".

I guess Mark Levine would be in that category as well.

Jazz Ad · #5 01-31-2010, 05:46 PM

Yeah unfortunately most jazz pianists these days sound like either Bill Evans or Keith Jarrett playing like Bill Evans.
Much like sax players sound like either Parker or Coltrane.

ugly_bassplayer · #6 01-31-2010, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

Yeah unfortunately most jazz pianists these days sound like either Bill Evans or Keith Jarrett playing like Bill Evans.
Much like sax players sound like either Parker or Coltrane.

I don't agree. You are making a very general conclusion on sax players & pianists.

Marcus Johnson · #7 01-31-2010, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

Yeah unfortunately most jazz pianists these days sound like either Bill Evans or Keith Jarrett playing like Bill Evans.

I wasn't saying that at all! All of the players in both of my previous posts have very strong musical personalities of their own.

Jazz Ad · #8 01-31-2010, 06:12 PM

This is how I feel.
I rarely get surprised by new jazz musicians. I'd love to though.
Most of the time I'd rather listen to the original than another solo mimicing Giant Steps or B minor waltz.

Last great surprises : Keiko Matsui, Miguel De Caro (obviously influenced by Stan Getz but has a very personal touch), Dihelson Mendonça.

Marcus Johnson · #9 01-31-2010, 06:19 PM

I did a couple of jazz festivals with Keiko. I didn't hear a whole lot of Bill's influence on those occasions. Nice person.

Jazz Ad · #10 01-31-2010, 06:22 PM

Precisely. The 3 I quoted tend to have their own voice.

John Wentzien · #11 01-31-2010, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nimbleswitch

I spent a while thinking about how to phrase this question, so I hope I got it right:

Who are the pianists whose playing you feel has been most strongly influenced by Bill Evans.

. . . whether the pianists would admit to it or not, and entirely apart from any type of substance abuse considerations, if any.

The GOOD ones

Bassist4Life · #12 01-31-2010, 06:26 PM

first one that comes to mind is brad mehldau

http://www.bradmehldau.com/

Marcus Johnson · #13 01-31-2010, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

Precisely. The 3 I quoted tend to have their own voice.

Okay. Not sure what that has to do with this particular thread, since nimble was asking about pianists with obvious Bill influences.

Paul Warburton · #14 01-31-2010, 07:15 PM

I could never be very specific on this because, as Marcus said almost exactly, his influence was /is so deep that it would be harder to find a jazz pianist today without Bill's influence. I really don't think that it exists because jazz piano, as it is today, wouldn't exist without Bill's impact.
Like Marcus said in another post...."It's like air or water if you want to live"...or something of that kind of cool nature.
Jack, sometimes it's not as obvious in some players as it is in others, so I'm thinking that that may be adding some confusion. Trane was huge, in his impact on his instrument as were Miles, Bird, Diz, Ray, Scott on their respective instruments, but Bill's influence impacted music in general and jazz in particular in a much larger arena.....into the composers and arrangers of music here and all over the world. Composing in general has changed because of Bill harmonic concepts.
It's common knowledge that some composers who heard Bill's renditions of their music said that that was how those tunes were meant to be played, in terms of the chordal voicings.
His touch on the piano has tried to be emulated probably thousands of times....no luck yet. IMO.
EDIT: And, Ad....if you rarley get "suprised" by "new jazz artists", I think you need to look around more. You sound pretty jaded with that statement.

ugly_bassplayer · #15 01-31-2010, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

I could never be very specific on this because, as Marcus said almost exactly, his influence was /is so deep that it would be harder to find a jazz pianist today without Bill's influence. I really don't think that it exists because jazz piano, as it is today, wouldn't exist without Bill's impact.
Like Marcus said in another post...."It's like air or water if you want to live"...or something of that kind of cool nature.
Jack, sometimes it's not as obvious in some players as it is in others, so I'm thinking that that may be adding some confusion. Trane was huge, in his impact on his instrument as were Miles, Bird, Diz, Ray, Scott on their respective instruments, but Bill's influence impacted music in general and jazz in particular in a much larger arena.....into the composers and arrangers of music here and all over the world. Composing in general has changed because of Bill harmonic concepts.
It's common knowledge that some composers who heard Bill's renditions of their music said that that was how those tunes were meant to be played, in terms of the chordal voicings.
His touch on the piano has tried to be emulated probably thousands of times....no luck yet. IMO.

+1 Everybody digs Bill Evans.

Paul Warburton · #16 01-31-2010, 07:31 PM

There you are again with that quote.....we oughtta take this act on the road.

**lowendfriend** · #17 01-31-2010, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

This is how I feel.
I rarely get surprised by new jazz musicians. I'd love to though.
Most of the time I'd rather listen to the original than another solo mimicing Giant Steps or B minor waltz.

Last great surprises : Keiko Matsui, Miguel De Caro (obviously influenced by Stan Getz but has a very personal touch), Dihelson Mendonça.

What do you think of Shai Maestro (pianist) in Avishai Cohen's Trio? New and fresh would be my take....jazz with Classical crispness.

Also, Jimmy Greene sure doesn't sound like Coltrane or Getz on sax.

Chris Symer · #18 01-31-2010, 08:03 PM

I can't decide which one, but I'm thinking it could be either Sun Ra or Cecil Taylor. Think about it for a minute. Do you think that Evans really wouldn't have had an impact on either one?

Jack Clark · #19 01-31-2010, 09:48 PM

Wonderfully put, Paul. I was hoping to learn who was attempting to carry on Bill's tradition, and the answer is everybody. Quite a legacy, isn't it?

Paul Warburton · #20 02-01-2010, 07:01 AM

To say the least, Jack. (Good thread, BTW).

Hey Chris, to have had Sun Ra and Cecil armed with some Bill Evans voicings would've brought new meaning to the phrase........"Musical Put-On"

EDIT: Imagine those guys doing "Turn Out The Stars".