Gil Evans
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Gil Evans | |
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Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (
Early life
Gil Evans was born in Toronto, Canada, on May 13, 1912,[3] to Margaret Julia McConnachy.[4] Little is known about Evans' biological father, although a family friend said that he was a doctor who died before Evans was born.[4] Originally named Gilmore Ian Ernest Green, Evans took the last name of his step-father, John Evans, a miner.[4] The family moved frequently, living in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon, migrating to wherever Evans' father could find work.[4] Eventually, the family ended up in California, first in Berkeley, where Evans attended the ninth and tenth grades, then in Stockton,[5] where he attended Stockton High School, graduating in 1930.[6] During this time, Evans' father took a job with the Western Pacific Railroad, and Evans began living with friends, later renting a room in a boarding house.[7] After graduating, Evans attended the College of the Pacific in Stockton but then transferred to Modesto Junior College.[6] After a year in Modesto, Evans left and moved back to Stockton.[8]
Evans became interested in music at an early age, listening to
Evans remained a Canadian citizen until he entered the US Army during the second World War. After 1946, he lived and worked primarily in New York City, living for many years at Westbeth Artists Community.[2]
Career
Between 1941 and 1948, Evans worked as an arranger for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra.[9] Even then, early in his career, his arrangements were such a challenge to musicians that bassist Bill Crow recalled that bandleader Thornhill would bring out Evans's arrangements "when he wanted to punish the band."[10] Evans' modest basement apartment behind a New York City Chinese laundry soon became a meeting place for musicians looking to develop new musical styles outside of the dominant bebop style of the day. Those present included the leading bebop performer, Charlie Parker, as well as Gerry Mulligan and John Carisi.
In 1948, Evans, with
Later, while Davis was under contract with
The demands of the score for Porgy and Bess were legendary, from the very first note for the lead trumpet. The limited time allotted for rehearsals revealed that the ability to read such a challenging score was not consistent among jazz musicians, and there are many audible errors. Yet the recording is now regarded by many as one of the greatest reinterpretations of Gershwin's music in any musical style, because Evans and Davis were each devoted to going outside the "mainstream" of commercial expectations for jazz musicians. Evans was a great influence on Davis's interest in "non-jazz" music, especially orchestral music. Unfortunately, Evans's orchestral scores from the Porgy and Bess sessions were later found to be incomplete (or simply lost), and Quincy Jones and Gil Goldstein attempted to reconstruct these for Miles Davis's final 1991 concerts at Montreux, recorded as Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux. Davis had relented after years of refusing to revisit this material, but he was clearly ill, recovering from pneumonia, and trumpeter Wallace Roney, who was mentored by Davis, covered many of the challenging passages. Davis died before the release of the album.
From 1957 onwards, Evans recorded albums under his own name. Tubist Bill Barber and trumpeter Louis Mucci from Thornhill's band were both stalwarts in Evans's early ensembles, with Mucci finding a spot on nearly every pre-1980s Evans recording. Among the featured soloists on these records were Lee Konitz, Jimmy Cleveland, Steve Lacy, Johnny Coles and Cannonball Adderley. In 1965, he arranged the big band tracks on Kenny Burrell's Guitar Forms album.
Evans was influenced by Spanish composers
The personnel list for
In 1966, he recorded an album with Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto, Look to the Rainbow.[13] He was discouraged by the commercial direction Verve Records was taking with the Gilberto sessions, and he went into a period of hiatus.
During this period while he was somewhat depressed about the commercial and logistical difficulties of his previous scoring requirements, his wife suggested that he listen to the guitarist
In 1974, he released an album of his, and other band members', arrangements of music by Hendrix with guitarists John Abercrombie and Ryo Kawasaki.[13] From then on Evans's ensembles featured electric instruments, i.e. guitars, basses, and synthesizers including a collaboration with bassist Jaco Pastorius Gil Evans & Jaco Pastorius – Live Under The Sky Tokyo '84. In contrast to his intricate scores for large ensembles, which required precision orchestral playing accompanying a single soloist, his later arrangements would feature more unison playing by the entire ensemble, such as on Hendrix's "Little Wing", with improvisational touches added throughout by the musicians.[9] Live recordings demonstrate that some entire pieces were collaborative efforts, and Evans can be heard giving cues from the keyboard (behind the band) to guide the band. Before the 1970s, his keyboard playing was generally sparse on recordings but after the 1970s he took a more active role in the rhythm section of the band.
In April 1983, the Gil Evans Orchestra was booked into the
In 1987, Evans recorded a live album with Sting: Last Session - Live At Perugia Jazz Festival July 11, 1987, featuring the Monday Night Orchestra musicians, guest star Branford Marsalis and big band arrangements of songs by and with The Police and Jimi Hendrix. In the same spirit of introducing new talent in his bands, he collaborated with Maria Schneider with her as an apprentice arranger on this and other final projects. His final project was Nov. 3 & 26, 1987, his arrangements for the Laurent Cugny Big Band in Paris, on the recording "Golden Hair" on Emarcy/Polygram.
In 1996, Columbia Studio Recordings released a box set which besides the masterpieces, featured outtakes and rarities of Miles Davis and Gil Evans.[17]
Ryan Truesdell presents the Gil Evans Project
Ryan Truesdell (de) began the Gil Evans Project, which resulted in a 2012 CD entitled Centennial, featuring previously unrecorded compositions and arrangements. These were produced with the permission of the Gil Evans estate, who gave Truesdell access to these scores and materials. Miles Evans, Gil's son, also led the Gil Evans Orchestra for a centennial concert at New York's Highline Ballroom, featuring many of the musicians heard in the orchestra during Evans's lifetime.[18]
Film music
In 1986, Evans produced and arranged the soundtrack to the film of the
He also arranged the music for the 1986 Martin Scorsese film The Color of Money.
Personal life
Evans first married Lillian Grace following the 1949 Birth of the Cool recording sessions. Very little is known about this marriage. In 1963, he would marry again. Evans was survived by his second wife, Anita (Cooper), and two children, Noah and Miles. His son Miles played trumpet in his Monday Night Orchestra.[15]
Evans died of peritonitis in Cuernavaca, Mexico, contracting it shortly after a surgery for his prostate and subsequent travel to Mexico to recover. Evans died at the age of 75.[1]
Awards and honors
- In 1986, Evans was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame.[19]
- He was also inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1997.[20]
Grammy Awards
Awarded as followings:[21]
- 1960: Sketches of Spain (with Miles Davis, Best Jazz Composition of More Than Five Minutes Duration)
- 1988: Bud and Bird (posthumously with the Monday Night Orchestra, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band)
- 1997: (Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings (Best Historical Album for the Compilation Producers and/or Mastering Engineers))
- Best Instrumental Arrangement)
Grammy Award nominations
- 1961: Out of the Cool (Best Jazz Performance Solo or Small Group)
- 1962: Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall (with Miles Davis, Best Jazz Performance Solo or Small Group (Instrumental))
- 1964: The Individualism of Gil Evans (Best Instrumental Jazz Performance – Small Group or Soloist)
- 1964: Quiet Nights(with Miles Davis, Best Instrumental Jazz Performance – Small Group or Soloist)
- 1965: Kenny Burrell's Guitar Forms (with Kenny Burrell, Best Instrumental Jazz Performance – Soloist or Small Group)
- 1965: "Greensleeves" in Kenny Burrell's Guitar Forms (Best Instrumental Arrangement)
- 1973: Svengali (Best Jazz Performance by a Group)
- 1983: Priestess (Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group)
- Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s))
Discography
As leader
- Gil Evans & Ten (Prestige, 1958)
- New Bottle Old Wine (World Pacific, 1958)
- Great Jazz Standards (World Pacific, 1959)
- Out of the Cool (Impulse!, 1961)
- Into the Hot (Impulse!, 1962)
- The Individualism of Gil Evans (Verve, 1964) - Reissued in 1988 on extended CD
- Gil Evans (Ampex, 1970) – also released as Blues in Orbit (Enja, 1980)
- Svengali (Atlantic, 1973)
- The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix (RCA Victor, 1974)
- Previously Unreleased Recordings (Verve, 1974) - recorded in 1964
- Montreux Jazz Festival '74 (Philips, 1975)
- There Comes a Time (RCA, 1976) – recorded in 1975
- Little Wing Live in Germany (Circle, 1978)
- Parabola (Horo, 1979) – recorded in 1978
- Gil Evans Live at the Royal Festival Hall London 1978 (RCA Victor, 1979)
- Live at the Public Theater (New York 1980) Vol.1 (Trio, 1980), Vol.2 (Trio, 1981)
- The Rest of Gil Evans Live at The Royal Festival Hall London 1978 (Mole Jazz, 1981)
- Where Flamingos Fly (Artists House, 1981) – recorded in 1971
- Priestess (Antilles, 1983) – recorded in 1977
- The British Orchestra (Mole Jazz, 1983)
- Live at Sweet Basil (Electric Bird, 1985)
- Live at Sweet Basil Vol. 2 (Electric Bird, 1986)
- Absolute Beginners: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (EMI, 1986)
- Bud and Bird (Electric Bird, 1987)
Posthumous releases
- Farewell (Electric Bird, 1988) – recorded in 1986
- Paris Blues with Steve Lacy (Owl, 1988) – recorded in 1987
- Rhythm A Ning with Laurent Cugny (EmArcy, 1988) – recorded in 1987
- Golden Hair with Laurent Cugny (EmArcy, 1989) – recorded in 1987
- Lunar Eclypse (New Tone Records, 1992) – recorded in 1981
- The Honey Man (New Tone Records, 1995) – recorded in 1986
- 75th Birthday Concert (BBC Legends, 2001) – recorded in 1987
- Tokyo Concert 1976 (Studio Songs, 2010) – recorded in 1976
With others
- Lucy Reed, This Is Lucy Reed (Fantasy, 1957)
- Kimiko Kasai & Gil Evans, Satin Doll (CBS/Sony, 1972)
- Masabumi Kikuchi, Masabumi Kikuchi with Gil Evans (Philips, 1972)
- Jaco Pastorius, Gil Evans & Jaco Pastorius – Live Under The Sky Tokyo '84 (Hi Hat, 2016)
- Glen Hall & Gil Evans, The Mother of the Book (InRespect, 1994) - recorded in 1985
- Lew Soloff, Hanalei Bay (Bellaphon, 1985)
- Ornella Vanoni, Ornella &... Duetti, Trii, Quartetti (CGD, 1986)
- Sting, ...Nothing Like the Sun (A&M, 1987)
- Sting, Last Session - Live At Perugia Jazz Festival 11 July 1987 (Jazz Door, 1992)
- Helen Merrill & Gil Evans, Collaboration (EmArcy, 1988) – recorded in 1987
- James Senese, Alhambra (EMI, 1988)
- Antoine Herve, O.N.J. 87 (Label Bleu, 1988)
- Ray Russell, Why Not Now (Theta, 1988)
- Ray Russell, A Table Near the Band (Last Chance Music, 1990)
- Lee Konitz & Gil Evans, Heroes (Verve, 1991)
- Lee Konitz & Gil Evans, Anti-Heroes (Verve, 1991)
As arranger
By recording date
- 1947-49: Claude Thornhill Orchestra, The Real Birth of the Cool: Studio Recordings (CBS/Sony, 1971)
- 1949-50: Miles Davis, Birth of the Cool (Capitol, 1957)
- 1950-52: Charlie Parker, Big Band (Clef, 1954)
- 1955: RCA Victor, 1956)
- 1956: Johnny Mathis, Johnny Mathis (Columbia, 1956)
- 1956: Marcy Lutes, Debut (Decca, 1956)
- 1957: Lucy Reed, This Is Lucy Reed (Fantasy, 1957)
- 1956-57: Helen Merrill, Dream of You (EmArcy, 1957)
- 1957: Miles Davis, Miles Ahead (Columbia, 1957)
- 1958?: Don Elliott Octet, Jamaica Jazz (ABC-Paramount, 1958)
- 1958: Miles Davis, Porgy and Bess (Columbia, 1959)
- 1959-60: Miles Davis, Sketches of Spain (Columbia, 1960) – 3rd Annual Grammy Awards: Best Jazz Composition of More Than Five Minutes Duration
- 1961: Miles Davis, Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall (Columbia, 1962)
- 1962-63: Miles Davis, Quiet Nights(Columbia, 1963)
- 1964-65: Kenny Burrell, Guitar Forms (Verve, 1965)
- 1965-66: Astrud Gilberto, Look to the Rainbow (Verve, 1966)
- 1968: Miles Davis, Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia, 1968) – without credits[22]: 273
- 1982-83: Miles Davis, Star People (Columbia, 1983)
- 1983: Miles Davis, Decoy (Columbia, 1984) – only "That's Right"
- 1985: Glen Hall, The Mother Of The Book (inRespect, 1994)
Filmography
- 2004: RMS Live with Gil Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1983 (Angel Air)
- 2007: Gil Evans and His Orchestra (V.I.E.W. Video)[23]
- 2007: Strange Fruit with Sting
- 2009: Miles Davis – The Cool Jazz Sound
See also
References
- ^ a b Watrous, Peter (March 22, 1988). "Gil Evans, a Key Jazz Composer And Orchestrator, Is Dead at 75". The New York Times.
- ^ All Media Network. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Feather, Leonard; Gitler, Ira (1999). "Evans, Gil". The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 214.
- ^ a b c d Crease, Stephanie Stein (2002). Gil Evans: Out of the Cool: His Life and Music. A Capella Books. p. 2.
- ^ a b Crease, Stephanie Stein (2002). Gil Evans: Out of the Cool: His Life and Music. A Capella Books. p. 3.
- ^ a b Crease, Stephanie Stein (2002). Gil Evans: Out of the Cool: His Life and Music. A Capella Books. p. 8.
- ^ Crease, Stephanie Stein (2002). Gil Evans: Out of the Cool: His Life and Music. A Capella Books. p. 4.
- ^ Crease, Stephanie Stein (2002). Gil Evans: Out of the Cool: His Life and Music. A Capella Books. p. 9.
- ^ ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
- ^ "Gil Evans Canadian composer". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
- ^ "George Avakian, jazz producer of Miles Davis and more, dies at 98". The Guardian. Associated Press. November 23, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
- ^ Zimmerman, Brian (May 6, 2019). "Miles Davis & Gil Evans – 'Miles Ahead'". Jazziz.
- ^ ISBN 1556529864.
- ISBN 978-1556524936.
- ^ a b Wilson, Jerome (December 31, 2018). "The Gil Evans Orchestra: Hidden Treasures Vol. 1, Monday Nights". All About Jazz. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
- ^ Nakayama, Yasuki (2018). "ギル・エヴァンスのマンディ・ナイト・セッション" [Gil Evans' Monday night sessions]. スイングジャーナル時代の中山康樹 [Yasuki Nakayama in "Swing Journal" era] (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Shinko Music Entertainment. pp. 68–78.
- ^ "Picks and Pans Review: Miles Davis & Gil Evans: the Complete Columbia Studio Recordings". People. Vol. 46, no. 16. October 14, 1996.
- ^ Schermer, Victor L. (July 25, 2011). "Ryan Truesdell: The Gil Evans Project". All About Jazz. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
- ^ "DownBeat Hall of Fame". DownBeat.
- ^ "Gil Evans". Canadian Music Hall Of Fame. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
- ^ "Artist: Gil Evans". The GRAMMYs. Recording Academy. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- ISBN 0-684-85982-3.
- ^ Evans, Gil. "Gil Evans and his Orchestra". View Video. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
External links
- Official website
- Gil Evans discography at Discogs
- Gil Evans at IMDb
- Jackson, Kenneth T.; Markoe, Karen; Markoe, Arnold, eds. (1999). "Evans, Gil". The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives. Vol. 2: 1986-1990. Charles Scribner's Sons – via Gale Academic Onefile.
- "Gil Evans". GRAMMY.com. February 15, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2019.