Bill Evans

Bill Evans was born on August 16, 1929 in Plainfield, New Jersey. His father was of Welsh descent, his mother was of Russian Orthodox background. His mother was an amateur pianist and gave Evans his first piano lessons at home as well as at her church. At the age of 6 he started classical piano training and later added flute and violin. At 12 he was able to fill in for his elder brother in Buddy Valentino's Jazz band. During the end of WWII and after the war, Evans played piano gigs in New York clubs. He graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University as a pianist in 1950, and later went to the Mannes College of Music, where he studied composition. Bill Evans was hired by Miles Davis in 1958, as the only white musician in the all-star Miles Davis Sextet. It was a mutually beneficial collaboration and their album "Kind of Blue" is now one of the most referred to in Jazz. Their creative work is documented in The Miles Davis Story (2001). In 1959 Evans started his own trio with bassist