ENDEIT
Bill Evans
Photo: Steve Schapiro, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Pianists · 1929–1980

Bill Evans

American jazz pianist (1929–1980)

Born
16 August 1929
Plainfield
Died
15 September 1980
New York City
Country
United States
Active
1950–1980
Record labels
Concord Records, Warner Bros. Records, Riverside, Fantasy
Discography
102 albums

Biography

Bill Evans was a jazz musician who played piano. Bill Evans was born on 16 August 1929 in Plainfield and died on 15 September 1980 in New York City. The music is usually filed under jazz, post-bop and cool jazz. Record labels: Concord Records, Warner Bros. Records, Riverside and Fantasy. The discography here lists 102 albums, from “New Jazz Conceptions” (1957) to “At the BBC: The Complete 1965 London Sets” (2026). Honours include Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1994).

William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His extensive use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, and trademark rhythmically independent "singing" melodic lines continue to influence jazz pianists today. Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Evans studied classical music at Southeastern Louisiana College and the Mannes School of Music, in New York City, where he majored in composition and received an artist diploma. In 1955, he moved to New York City, where he worked with bandleader and theorist George Russell. In 1958, Evans joined Miles Davis's sextet, which in 1959, then immersed in modal jazz, recorded Kind of Blue, the best-selling jazz album of all time.

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Discography

Studio and live albums

New Jazz Conceptions 1957 · Riverside Interplay 1962 · Craft Recordings Undercurrent 1962 · United Artists Conversations With Myself 1963 · Verve The Gary McFarland Orchestra 1963 · Verve Trio 64 1964 · Verve Bill Evans Trio With Symphony Orchestra 1965 · Verve A Simple Matter of Conviction 1966 · Verve Intermodulation 1966 · Verve Further Conversations With Myself 1967 · Verve At the Montreux Jazz Festival 1968 · Live · Verve Alone 1969 · Verve
From Left To Right 1970
Montreux II 1970 · Live · CTI The Bill Evans Album 1971 · Columbia The Tokyo Concert 1973 · Live · CBS/Sony
Verve - Return Engagement 1974
Alone (Again) 1975 · Fantasy Intuition 1975 · Fantasy Peace Piece and Other Pieces 1975 · Milestone Montreux III 1976 · Live · Fantasy On Green Dolphin Street 1977 · Riverside Quintessence 1977 · Fantasy Affinity 1978 · Craft Recordings New Conversations 1978 · Warner Bros. Records Autumn Leaves = 枯葉 1979 · Studio Songs Quiet Now 1981 · Live · Affinity Re: Person I Knew 1981 · Live · Fantasy You Must Believe in Spring 1981 · Warner Bros. Records California Here I Come 1982 · Live · Verve Eloquence 1982 · Fantasy The Paris Concert, Edition One 1982 · Live · Elektra Musician The Canadian Concert of Bill Evans 1983 · Live · Can-Am Records Unknown Session 1983 · Riverside More From The Vanguard 1984 · Milestone The Complete Live at the Village Vanguard 1961 1985 · Live · Riverside Jazzhouse 1987 · Live · Milestone Live In Paris 1972 Vol. 1 1988 · Live · France’s Concert Live In Paris, 1972 Vol. 2 1988 · Live · France’s Concert You're Gonna Hear From Me 1988 · Live · Milestone Buenos Aires Concert 1973 1989 · Live · Resonance Records His Last Concert in Germany 1989 · Live · West Wind
In His Own Way 1989
Live In Paris, 1972 Vol. 3 1989 · Live · France’s Concert The Paris Concert 1989 · Live · Fantasy The Paris Concert, Edition Two 1989 · Live · Elektra
Together Again 1990
Bill Evans & Monica Zetterlund 1991 · Live · Edition Westwind Blue in Green: The Concert in Canada 1991 · Live · Milestone Loose Blues 1992 · Milestone Midnight Mood 1992 · ALL THAT'S JAZZ Yesterday I Heard the Rain 1992 · Live · Bandstand Serenity 1993 · Live · Charly Records We Will Meet Again 1993 · Warner Bros. Records Live at the Festival 1994 · Live · enja Symbiosis 1994 · MPS
The Final Village Vanguard Sessions - June, 1980 1996
The Secret Sessions 1996 · Live · Milestone From Left to Right 1998 · Verve Half Moon Bay 1998 · Live · Milestone A Jazz Hour With Bill Evans: Autumn Leaves 1999 · Live · Jazz Hour Homecoming 1999 · Live · Milestone Tenderly: An Informal Session 2001 · Milestone Getting Sentimental: Live at the Village Vanguard 2003 · Live · Milestone Nardis 2003 · Absord Music Japan Portraiture 2003 · Live · Fuel 2000 Records What's New 2003 · Verve
Brandeis Jazz Festival 2005 · Live
Complete Quartet Recordings 2005 · Lone Hill Jazz Play the Arrangements of Jimmy Giuffre 2005 · Lone Hill Jazz Live at the Half Note 2008 · Live · Jazz Lips Theme From The V.I.P.s and Other Great Songs 2008 · Universal Classics & Jazz Lund 1975, Helsinki 1970 2009 · Live · Jazz Lips
Best Of Bill Evans 1977-1980 2010
Piano Four Hands: Live in Rio 1979 2010 · Live · Jazz Lips At the Eastman Theatre 1977 2011 · Live · RLR Records The Sesjun Radio Shows 2011 · Live · Out of the Blue Entertainment Live at Art D'Lugoff's Top of the Gate 2012 · Live · Resonance Records Momentum 2012 · Live · Limetree Records Solo Piano at Carnegie Hall 1973-78 2013 · Live In a Sentimental Mood 2014 · Kendal Autumn Leaves 2015 · Live · Studio Songs Lulu White's Boston, Ma. October 30, 1979 (Remastered, Live On Broadcasting) 2015 · Live Momentum Vol. 1 2015 · SOLID RECORDS Momentum Vol. 2 2015 · SOLID RECORDS Some Other Time: The Lost Session From the Black Forest 2016 · Live · Resonance Records Another Time: The Hilversum Concert 2017 · Live · Resonance Records On a Monday Evening 2017 · Live · Fantasy Evans in England 2019 · Live · Resonance Records Live at Ronnie Scott’s 2020 · Live Behind The Dikes: The 1969 Netherlands Recordings 2021 · Live · Element Records Morning Glory: The 1973 Concert at the Teatro Gran Rex, Buenos Aires 2022 · Live · Resonance Records Coffee and Cigarettes 2023 · Nagel Heyer Records Tales: Live in Copenhagen (1964) 2023 · Live · Elemental Music
Bill Evans in Europe 1972 2024 · Live
Bill Evans in Norway - The Kongsberg Concert 2024 · Live · Elemental Music Evans on Evans 2024 Further Ahead (Live In Finland 1964-1969) 2025 · Live · Elemental Music Portraits at the Penthouse: Live in Seattle 2025 · Live · Resonance Records At the BBC: The Complete 1965 London Sets 2026 · Live · Elemental Music A rare original · Alto Records
The Very Best of Jazz

Also plays on

Albums where Bill Evans is credited as a sideman

1957 East Coasting — Charles Mingus piano
1957 My Kind of Jazz — Tony Scott piano
1957 Jazz Sahib — Sahib Shihab piano
1958 Legrand Jazz — Michel Legrand piano
1958 Jump for Joy — Julian Cannonball Adderley piano
1958 Modern Art — Art Farmer piano
1959 Kind of Blue — Miles Davis piano
1959 Chet — Chet Baker piano
1959 Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner & Loewe — Chet Baker piano
1959 You and Lee — Lee Konitz piano
1959 New York N.Y. — George Russell piano
1959 Free Blown Jazz — Tony Scott, Jimmy Knepper piano
1960 The Third World — Donald Byrd & Booker Little piano
1960 John Lewis Presents Contemporary Music 1: Jazz Abstractions: Compositions by Gunther Schuller & Jim Hall — John Lewis piano
1961 The Great Kai & J.J. — Kai Winding & J.J. Johnson piano
1961 The Blues and the Abstract Truth — Oliver Nelson piano
1962 Empathy — Shelly Manne / Bill Evans with Monty Budwig piano
1964 Waltz for Debby — Monica Zetterlund & Bill Evans piano, arranger
1964 Nirvana — Herbie Mann & The Bill Evans Trio piano
1965 Just Jazz! — Benny Golson piano
1965 Lee Konitz meets Keith Jarrett, Chet Baker & Bill Evans: Live in Europe — Lee Konitz piano
1973 Stan Getz & Bill Evans — Stan Getz & Bill Evans piano
1973 Swiss Suite — Oliver Nelson piano
1975 The Tony Bennett / Bill Evans Album — Tony Bennett and Bill Evans piano
1977 Together Again — Tony Bennett and Bill Evans piano
1982 Golden Moments — Tony Scott with Bill Evans • Jimmy Garrison • Pete Laroca piano
1994 Live At The Half Note — Lee Konitz piano
2003 A Day in New York — Tony Scott & Bill Evans piano
2004 Modern Art — Art Farmer piano
2006 Riverside Profiles — Chet Baker piano

Awards

Films about Bill Evans

2026Everybody Digs Bill Evans2026 film directed by Grant Gee

Books about Bill Evans

Listen on Spotify

Frequently asked questions

What instrument did Bill Evans play?

Bill Evans is known for playing piano.

When and where was Bill Evans born?

Bill Evans was born 16 August 1929 in Plainfield.

What are Bill Evans's best-known albums?

Albums in our database include New Jazz Conceptions (1957), Interplay (1962), Undercurrent (1962), Conversations With Myself (1963) and The Gary McFarland Orchestra (1963).

External links

Data compiled from open sources; see the source links below. Spotted an error? Let us know.