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Gil Evans (13 May 1912 in Toronto
Toronto

Toronto is the List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population in Canada and the Provinces and territories of Canada Provincial and territorial capitals of Canada of Ontario....
, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 – 20 March 1988 in Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca

Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Morelos in Mexico. As of the 2005 census, the population of the city was 332,197; the municipality's entire population was 349,102 in an area of that includes numerous small localities outside the city, like Ocotepec, where interesting religious celebrations take place, like...
, Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
) was a jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 pianist
Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an musical ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
, arranger, composer
Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
, and bandleader
Bandleader

A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, active in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. He played a seminal role in the development of cool jazz
Cool jazz

During the Second World War, there was an influx of Californian jazz musicians to New York. Once there, these musicians mixed with the mostly black bebop musicians, but were also strongly influenced by the "smooth" sound of saxophonist Lester Young....
, modal jazz
Modal jazz

Modal jazz is jazz using musical modes rather than chord progressions as its harmonic framework....
, free jazz
Free jazz

Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s.Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and '50s....
 and jazz-rock, and collaborated extensively with Miles Davis
Miles Davis

Miles Dewey Davis III was an United States jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Davis was at the forefront of almost every major development in jazz from World War II to the 1990s: he played on various early bebop records and recorded one of the first cool jaz...
.

Ian Ernest Gilmore Green, his name was changed early on to Evans, the name of his stepfather. His family moved to Stockton
Stockton, California

Stockton is a city in California and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California . Stockton's population estimate for January 1, 2008, according to the California Department of Finance, is 290,141....
, California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, where he spent most of his youth.






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Gil Evans (13 May 1912 in Toronto
Toronto

Toronto is the List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population in Canada and the Provinces and territories of Canada Provincial and territorial capitals of Canada of Ontario....
, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 – 20 March 1988 in Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca

Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Morelos in Mexico. As of the 2005 census, the population of the city was 332,197; the municipality's entire population was 349,102 in an area of that includes numerous small localities outside the city, like Ocotepec, where interesting religious celebrations take place, like...
, Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
) was a jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 pianist
Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an musical ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
, arranger, composer
Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
, and bandleader
Bandleader

A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, active in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. He played a seminal role in the development of cool jazz
Cool jazz

During the Second World War, there was an influx of Californian jazz musicians to New York. Once there, these musicians mixed with the mostly black bebop musicians, but were also strongly influenced by the "smooth" sound of saxophonist Lester Young....
, modal jazz
Modal jazz

Modal jazz is jazz using musical modes rather than chord progressions as its harmonic framework....
, free jazz
Free jazz

Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s.Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and '50s....
 and jazz-rock, and collaborated extensively with Miles Davis
Miles Davis

Miles Dewey Davis III was an United States jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Davis was at the forefront of almost every major development in jazz from World War II to the 1990s: he played on various early bebop records and recorded one of the first cool jaz...
.

Biography

Born Ian Ernest Gilmore Green, his name was changed early on to Evans, the name of his stepfather. His family moved to Stockton
Stockton, California

Stockton is a city in California and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California . Stockton's population estimate for January 1, 2008, according to the California Department of Finance, is 290,141....
, California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, where he spent most of his youth. After 1946, he lived and worked primarily in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
.

Between 1941 and 1948, he worked as an arranger for the Claude Thornhill
Claude Thornhill

Claude Thornhill was an United States pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. He composed the jazz and pop standard "Snowfall"....
 Orchestra. Evans' modest basement apartment
Basement apartment

A basement apartment is an apartment located below street level, underneath another structure - usually an apartment building, but possibly a house or a business....
 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
Bebop

Bebop or bop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody. It was developed in the early and mid-1940s....
 style of the day. Those present included the leading bebop performer Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker

Charles Parker, Jr. was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.Parker is widely considered one of the most influential of jazz musicians, along with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington....
 himself. In 1948, Evans, with Miles Davis
Miles Davis

Miles Dewey Davis III was an United States jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Davis was at the forefront of almost every major development in jazz from World War II to the 1990s: he played on various early bebop records and recorded one of the first cool jaz...
, Gerry Mulligan
Gerry Mulligan

Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an United States jazz saxophonist, composer and arrangement.Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophone in jazz history - playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz - he was also a notable arranger, working with Claude Thornhill, Miles Davis,...
, and others, collaborated on a band book for a nonet
Nonet (music)

In music, a nonet is a composition which requires nine musicians for a performance, or a musical group that consists of nine people. Unlike some other musical ensembles such as the string quartet, there is no established or standard set of instruments in a nonet....
. The group was booked for a week at the "Royal Roost" as an intermission group on the bill with the Count Basie
Count Basie

William "Count" Basie was an United States Jazz piano, organist, bandleader, and composer. Widely regarded as one of the most important jazz bandleaders of his time, Basie led his popular Count Basie Orchestra for almost 50 years....
 Orchestra. Capitol Records
Capitol Records

Capitol Records is a major United States-based record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood, California and New York City as part of Capitol Music Group....
 recorded 12 numbers by the nonet at three sessions in 1949 and 1950. These recordings were reissued on a 1959 Miles Davis LP titled Birth of the Cool
Birth of the Cool

Birth of the Cool is an LP album which compiles twelve songs recorded by the Miles Davis nonet for Capitol Records in 1949 and 1950. Featuring unusual instrumentation and several notable musicians, the music consisted of innovative arrangements strongly inspired by classical music, and marked a major development in post-bebop jazz....
.

Later, while Davis was under contract to Columbia Records
Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label founded in 1888.Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in pre-recorded sound, being the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders....
, producer George Avakian
George Avakian

George Avakian is an United States record producer and executive known particularly for his work with Columbia Records, and his production of albums by Miles Davis and other notable jazz musicians....
 suggested that Davis work with any of several arrangers. Davis immediately chose Evans. The three albums that resulted from the resulting collaboration are Miles Ahead
Miles Ahead

Miles Ahead is a jazz album by Miles Davis released in 1957. This was the first album after Birth of the Cool that Davis recorded with Gil Evans, with whom he would go on to release albums such as Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain....
 (1957), Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess (Miles Davis album)

Porgy and Bess is a studio album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in 1958 on Columbia Records. The album features arrangements by Davis and collaborator Gil Evans from George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess....
 (1958), and Sketches of Spain
Sketches of Spain

Sketches of Spain is an album by Miles Davis, recorded between November 1959 and March 1960. The album pairs Davis with arranger and composer Gil Evans, with whom he had collaborated on several other projects, on a program of compositions largely derived from the Spanish folk tradition....
 (1960). Another collaboration from this period, Quiet Nights
Quiet Nights

Quiet Nights is an album recorded in 1962 and 1963 by Miles Davis and Gil Evans. The first six tunes were recorded in 1962 with an orchestra conducted by Evans, and "Summer Night" was recorded in 1963 by Davis with a short-lived quintet , during the sessions for the album Seven Steps to Heaven , although Coleman lays out on this numb...
 (1962) was issued later, against the wishes of Davis, who broke with his then-producer Teo Macero
Teo Macero

Teo Macero , born Attilio Joseph Macero, was an United States jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years, and most notably produced the Miles Davis album, Kind of Blue, which at #12, is the highest-ranked jazz album on Rolling Stone Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of A...
 for a time as a result. Although these four records were marketed primarily under Davis's name (and credited to Miles Davis and the Gil Evans Big Band), Evans's contribution was as important as Davis's. Their work coupled Evans's classic big band jazz stylings and arrangements with Davis's solo playing. Evans also contributed behind the scenes to Davis' classic quintet albums of the 1960s.

From 1957 onwards Evans recorded, under his own name, Big Stuff
Gil Evans & Ten

Gil Evans & Ten is the first album by pianist, conductor, arranger and composer Gil Evans as a leader and was released on the Prestige Records label in 1957....
 (1957, aka Gil Evans & Ten
Gil Evans & Ten

Gil Evans & Ten is the first album by pianist, conductor, arranger and composer Gil Evans as a leader and was released on the Prestige Records label in 1957....
), New Bottle Old Wine and Great Jazz Standards (a.k.a. "Pacific Standard Time", 1957-58), Out of the Cool
Out of the Cool

Out of the Cool is a 1961 jazz album by the Gil Evans Orchestra....
 (1960), and The Individualism Of Gil Evans (1964). Among the featured soloists on these records were Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz is an United States jazz composer and alto saxophone born in Chicago, Illinois. Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings....
, Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy

This article is about the jazz musician. For the CEO of Meredith, see Steve Lacy .Steve Lacy , born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York, was a jazz saxophone....
, Johnny Coles
Johnny Coles

Johnny Coles was an American jazz trumpeter.Coles spent his early career playing with R&B groups, including those of Eddie Vinson , Bull Moose Jackson , and Earl Bostic ....
 and Cannonball Adderley. In 1965 he arranged the big band tracks on Kenny Burrell's
Kenny Burrell

Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an United States jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians....
 Guitar Forms album. Evans was quite warm to Latin and Brazilian music. 1966 he recorded a 'special' Latin album with his orchestra, Look To The Rainbow, for the Brazil
Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
ian singer Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto

Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian singer best known for her samba and bossa nova music, most famously as the vocalist on the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema"....
. Evans toured extensively during 1972-87, performing frequently in European concerts and festivals, and traveling twice to Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
, once with Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius

John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III was an United States jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged for his skills as an electric bass player, as well as his command of varied musical styles including jazz, jazz fusion, funk, and jazz-funk....
.

For a man of his generation and training, Evans was surprisingly open to new directions in popular music. In the 1970s, following Davis and many other jazz musicians, Evans worked in the free jazz
Free jazz

Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s.Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and '50s....
 and jazz-rock idioms, gaining a new generation of admirers. Evans had a particular interest in the work of rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall Hendrix was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter whose guitar playing continues to be a considerable influence on rock music....
. Hendrix's 1970 death made impossible a scheduled meeting with Evans to discuss having Hendrix front a big band led by Evans. In 1974, he released an album of his arrangements of music by Hendrix. In 1986, Evans produced and arranged the soundtrack to the film of the Colin MacInnes
Colin MacInnes

Colin MacInnes was an England novelist....
 book Absolute Beginners (film)
Absolute Beginners (film)

Absolute Beginners is a 1986 rock musical movie adapted from the Colin MacInnes Absolute Beginners about life in late 1950s London. The film was directed by Julien Temple, featured David Bowie and Sade Adu, and a breakout role by Patsy Kensit....
, therefore working with such contemporary artists as Sade Adu
Sade Adu

Helen Folasade Adu, Order of the British Empire, , better known as Sade , is a British people singer-songwriter, composer, and record producer....
, Patsy Kensit
Patsy Kensit

Patricia Jude Francis Kensit is an English actress and former singer, well-known for her three celebrity marriages and appearances on British television....
's Eight Wonder, The Style Council
The Style Council

The Style Council were an England musical group formed in 1983 by ex-The Jam singer and guitarist Paul Weller with keyboardist Mick Talbot. The permanent lineup grew to include drummer Steve White and Weller's then-wife, vocalist Dee C....
, Jerry Dammers
Jerry Dammers

Jerry Dammers is a founder and Keyboard instrument player of the Coventry, England based ska revival musical ensemble The Specials .Before his days in The Specials, Dammers had been a Mod in the 1960s, then became a hippie, before becoming a skinhead....
, Smiley Culture
Smiley Culture

Smiley Culture is a United Kingdom reggae singing and Deejay. Although his period of fame and success was brief, he did produce two of the most critically acclaimed reggae single of the 1980s....
, Edward Tudor-Pole
Edward Tudor-Pole

Edward Tudor-Pole is an England musician, singer , Television presenter, and actor....
, and, notably, David Bowie
David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and Arrangement. Active in five decades of rock music and frequently reinventing his music and image, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s....
. In 1987, Evans recorded a live CD with Sting, featuring big band arrangements of songs by and with The Police
The Police

The Police were an English Power trio Rock music band consisting of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland . The band became globally popular in the late 1970s, playing a style of rock that was influenced by jazz, punk rock and reggae music....
.

In April 1983 the Gil Evans Orchestra was booked into the Sweet Basil jazz club (Greenwich Village, New York) by jazz producer and Sweet Basil owner Horst Liepolt
Horst Liepolt

Horst Liepolt is a jazz producer and artist.In Australia, and later in the United States, he organized numerous successful jazz concerts and festivals and also produced a large number of jazz recordings....
. This turned out to be a regular Monday night engagement for Evans for nearly five years and also resulted in the release of a number of successful albums by Gil Evans and the Monday Night Orchestra (produced by Horst Liepolt). One of these albums, Bud and Bird, won the Grammy award
Grammy Award

The Grammy Awards ?or Grammys?are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry....
 for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band in 1989.

In 1986, Evans was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame
Down Beat

Down Beat is an United States magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years....
.

Evans died in the same Mexican city as Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus

Charles Mingus was an United States jazz bassist, composer, bandleader, and occasional pianist. He was also known for his activism against racism....
, Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca

Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Morelos in Mexico. As of the 2005 census, the population of the city was 332,197; the municipality's entire population was 349,102 in an area of that includes numerous small localities outside the city, like Ocotepec, where interesting religious celebrations take place, like...
.

Discography

  • Gil Evans & Ten
    Gil Evans & Ten

    Gil Evans & Ten is the first album by pianist, conductor, arranger and composer Gil Evans as a leader and was released on the Prestige Records label in 1957....
     (1957)
  • New Bottle Old Wine (1958)
  • Great Jazz Standards (1959)
  • Out of the Cool
    Out of the Cool

    Out of the Cool is a 1961 jazz album by the Gil Evans Orchestra....
     (1960)
  • Into the Hot (1961) - Original material by Cecil Taylor
    Cecil Taylor

    Cecil Percival Taylor is an United States pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the inventors of free jazz....
     and John Carisi
    John Carisi

    John E. Carisi was an United States trumpet and composer.Carisi was member of Herbie Fields's Orchestra and Glen Miller's Airforce Band....
    , with Evans given arranging credit.
  • The Individualism of Gil Evans
    The Individualism of Gil Evans

    The Individualism of Gil Evans is an album by pianist, conductor, arranger and composer Gil Evans originally released on the Verve Records label in 1964....
     (1964)
  • Guitar Forms (1965) (with Kenny Burrell
    Kenny Burrell

    Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an United States jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians....
    )
  • Look To The Rainbow (1966) (with Astrud Gilberto
    Astrud Gilberto

    Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian singer best known for her samba and bossa nova music, most famously as the vocalist on the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema"....
    )
  • Blues In Orbit (1971)
  • Svengali
    Svengali (album)

    Gil Evans's Svengali is a jazz album released in 1973.Recorded live in 1973 at Trinity Church, New York, NY except "Zee Zee" which was recorded at Avery Fisher Hall, New York, NY....
     (1973)
  • Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix
    Jimi Hendrix

    James Marshall Hendrix was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter whose guitar playing continues to be a considerable influence on rock music....
     (1975)
  • There Comes a Time (1975)
  • Priestess (1977)
  • Little Wing (1978)
  • Live at the Public Theater Volume 1 & 2 (1980)
  • Live at Sweet Basil (1984–1986)
  • Farewell (1986)
  • Bud and Bird (1986) (Grammy award winner 1989)
  • Absolute Beginners Soundtrack
    Absolute Beginners (film)

    Absolute Beginners is a 1986 rock musical movie adapted from the Colin MacInnes Absolute Beginners about life in late 1950s London. The film was directed by Julien Temple, featured David Bowie and Sade Adu, and a breakout role by Patsy Kensit....
     (1986)
  • Live at Umbria Jazz
    Umbria Jazz Festival

    The Umbria Jazz Festival is one of the most important jazz festivals in the world and has been held annually since 1973, usually in July, in the city of Perugia, Italy....
    : Volume 1 & 2     (1987)
  • 75th Birthday Concert (1987)
  • Paris Blues (1987) (duo with Steve Lacy
    Steve Lacy

    This article is about the jazz musician. For the CEO of Meredith, see Steve Lacy .Steve Lacy , born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York, was a jazz saxophone....
    )
  • Last Session (1987) (with Sting)
  • A Tribute to Gil (1988)


See also



External links