EVANS, BILL

born Aug. 16, 1929, Plainfield, N.J., U.S. died Sept. 15, 1980, New York, N.Y. byname of William John Evans American jazz pianist whose lush harmonies and lyrical improvisation so influenced other jazz pianists of the 1960s and '70s that it became the single most influential style since that of Bud Powell 10 years earlier. During the 1950s Evans recorded with clarinetist Tony Scott and composer-pianist George Russell, and as a pianist-composer-arranger he was important in the development of mode-based jazz improvisation on the landmark 1959 Miles Davis album Kind of Blue. Evans' June 1961 live recording, The Village Vanguard Sessions, with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian, established a major model for free melodic improvisation by exhibiting near-telepathic communication between the members of the trio. Most notable among the albums that won him five Grammy awards are Conversations with Myself (1963), a solo effort with overdubs, and The Bill Evans Album (1971), the success of which marked a resurgence of popular interest in Evans and his new bassist, Eddie Gomez.