• As an arranger he was heavily influenced by Gil Evans, favouring the tonal colouration and space that Evans brought to his pieces on classic Miles Davis albums and Evans's own projects such as Out of the Cool and The Individualism of Gil Evans. (painteddogrecords.com)
  • Canadian-born composer and arranger who was one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz history. (britannica.com)
  • Gil Evans was a subtly superb composer and arranger, who wrote for the big band of Claude Thornhill and singers Johnny Mathis and Helen Merrill, as well as the small groups of Gerry Mulligan and Teddy Charles, and would go on to leading his own edgy, modern big band (he even recorded an album of Jimi Hendrix songs! (freshsoundrecords.com)
  • Clarinet an saxophone player, composer and arranger, he graduated in clarinet from Palermo's Conservatory in 1982. (scomegna.com)
  • In 1941, Claude Thornhill, who had been associated with the Hope show, hired Evans as an arranger for his first orchestra, which lasted for seven years. (arts.gov)
  • After that he worked with, and was significantly influenced by, the Claude Thornhill Orchestra, experimenting there with big band arrangements that included woodwinds alongside the usual brass section, in a way that was was to become something of a hallmark of Evans' work. (aata.dev)
  • In a prospect of moving jazz on from bebop to a West Coast cool style Evans tried to reconnect to the jazz mainstream by working with Charlie Parker on pieces scored for Claude Thornhill. (aata.dev)
  • From 1941 to 1948, he worked as an arranger with Claude Thornhill 's band, devising the unique instrumentation that was to become a trademark of his early years: a standard big-band lineup, plus French horns and tuba . (britannica.com)
  • Along with Ennis came pianist/arranger Claude Thornhill, and the two arrangers became fast friends. (jazzbooks.com)
  • Masabumi and Gil hit it off to organize hybrid orchestra from Japan and US. (wikipedia.org)
  • As Thornhill's arranger, Gil Evans became interested in the sort of combination of instruments that were found in a classical orchestra colouring and using the Thornhill musicians as his palette in the forties he added French horns to their sound, although a focal point of the band at that time was the altoist Lee Konitz. (aata.dev)
  • So Evans pushed on with these developments and he, along with the Thornhill orchestra, drew ever closer to the European classical repertoire and how it could relate to modern American music. (aata.dev)
  • In the 1950s, Gil and Miles arranged and orchestrated the music of George Gershwin's famous opera Porgy and Bess for full jazz orchestra. (nyfos.org)
  • However, vocalist Skinnay Ennis of the Hal Kemp Orchestra was going out on his own, and Evans s agency decided that Ennis should take Evans s orchestra. (jazzbooks.com)
  • When Thornhill formed his own orchestra, Evans came with him, although he continued to write for the Ennis ensemble. (jazzbooks.com)
  • Bands such as the Tubby Hayes Orchestra, the John Warren Big Band, the Alan Cohen Big Band, The John Dankworth Orchestra and the various large ensembles led by Mike Gibbs and Mike Westbrook all attest to the big band still being used as a vehicle for composers, players and arrangers to explore ideas, even in an age when the economics of it seemed unviable. (painteddogrecords.com)
  • In 1937, singer Skinny Ennis took over leadership of the band, retaining Evans as pianist and arranger as they moved to Hollywood, where they were regularly featured on the Bob Hope radio show. (arts.gov)
  • A self-taught musician, Evans started his first band in 1933, first leading it and later working as pianist and arranger. (britannica.com)
  • Daugherty served as assistant (1980-82) to jazz pianist and arranger Gil Evans, helping reconstruct Evans's charts for Miles Davis's 1958 recording of Porgy and Bess . (michaeldaugherty.net)
  • Over the next few years, Evans and Davis worked together on Porgy and Bess, Sketches of Spain , and Quiet Nights . (arts.gov)
  • In direct contrast to his usual spare approach, Davis released the densely textured Miles Ahead (1957), Porgy and Bess (1958), and Sketches of Spain (1960), all arranged by Evans. (britannica.com)
  • Nelson covers young Davis' perspective-altering first trip to Paris, and his collaboration with arranger Gil Evans that resulted in favorites including Sketches of Spain . (bigtakeover.com)
  • When the quintet broke up, Davis spent time collaborating again with arranger Gil Evans, resulting in great albums like Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain . (jazzitude.com)
  • Gil Evans is one of the greatest jazz orchestrators/composers/arrangers in history. (nyfos.org)
  • Evans spent much of the 1950s as a freelance arranger, until 1957 when he began working with Davis on the first of their four collaborations, Miles Ahead , featuring Davis on flugelhorn as the only soloist, an unusual arrangement in jazz at the time. (arts.gov)
  • Throughout most of the 1950s, Evans worked in radio and television, often composing and arranging for singers such as Tony Bennett , Peggy Lee , Johnny Mathis , and Helen Merrill. (britannica.com)
  • Evans's importance as a jazz arranger was not widely recognized until he resumed his partnership with Davis in 1957, when Davis was in one of his most fertile and creative periods. (britannica.com)
  • Over the course of six compact discs, Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings collects every bit of music the legendary duo recorded together between the years 1957 and 1968. (freshsoundrecords.com)
  • Rather, Evans' artistic interest was in orchestral arranging and he was convinced that there could be a big band development of equal magnitude to the revolutionary impression bebop was making. (aata.dev)
  • Johnson was especially drawn to the orchestral collaborations between Miles and arranger Gil Evans. (voanews.com)
  • It is elaborately annotated and a treasure forfans of Miles, Evans, orchestral jazz and heartfelt instrumental music. (freshsoundrecords.com)
  • A prime example is "Miles Ahead" by Miles Davis and Gil Evans, a predecessor of sorts to several large orchestral collaborations by these masters that finally and firmly established Miles as a jazz star. (classicselectworld.com)
  • He finished the decade out by recording one of the best known jazz albums of all time, Kind of Blue , with a sextet that included Coltrane, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. (jazzitude.com)
  • When the band was taken over by Skinnay Ennis, Gil remained as arranger until 1941. (downbeat.com)
  • I haunted Claude until he hired me as an arranger in 1941. (downbeat.com)
  • Pianist Bill Evans dies in New York. (jazzinamerica.org)
  • In fact, on recordings under his own name he would often let someone else (often Bill Evans on his early albums ) take the piano chair so that he could focus on directing the band. (jazzfuel.com)
  • But Russell is an important figure in jazz history: his book Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organisation (1953) codified the modal (or scale-based) approach to harmony, and influenced the thinking of players like Miles Davis, Bill Evans and John Coltrane. (jazzfuel.com)
  • Bill Evans' piano playing married the influence of beboppers like Bud Powell with an introspective impressionism. (jazzfuel.com)
  • Evans used similar instrumentation for his two arrangements on Miles Davis's seminal album Birth of the Cool (recorded 1949-50), their first noted collaboration. (britannica.com)
  • Posted Wednesday, March 3, 2021 by Anonymous A stunning collaboration between master arranger Gil Evans and Miles Davis, plus some of his band and other outstanding jazz players. (acousticsounds.com)
  • Evans had a long and productive career but remains best known for his celebrated collaborations with trumpeter Miles Davis . (britannica.com)
  • Evans settled permanently in New York in 1947 and his unusual arrangements for Thornhill began to attract the attention of some of the nascent beboppers of the time, including Miles Davis , John Lewis , and Gerry Mulligan. (arts.gov)
  • It was around this time that Evans' apartment became a meeting ground for these and other musicians conversational exchanges led to the recording of Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool session for Capitol Records. (arts.gov)
  • Gil Evans (right) in the studio with Miles Davis, circa 1970. (aata.dev)
  • Miles Davis and Gil Evans bridged styles and collaborated on high-concept projects a total of three times during their celebrated career. (mofi.com)
  • With both Evans and Davis attracted to the blues undercurrents permanently entrenched in the Spanish flamenco strains, listeners can finally wholly detect the myriad microdynamic tonalities, brooding ostinato devices, and minor pedal points that stamp the compositions with divine sensibility and goffered effect. (mofi.com)
  • Miles Davis is one of the best jazz arrangers/instrumentalists in history. (nyfos.org)
  • What I was most impressed with was that Evans and Davis managed to keep the integrity of the original composition. (nyfos.org)
  • In this eight page excerpt, it's 1947, and Miles Davis meets arranger/composer Gil Evans, one of his great musical collaborators, for the first time in a club in New York City. (publishersweekly.com)
  • Nevertheless, Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings is filled with so much visionary and beautiful music it makes the slight flaws in packaging forgivable. (freshsoundrecords.com)
  • This course covers the life of Miles Davis from his first professional job with Ernest Randle's Ramblers in St. Louis to his final concert at Montreaux, including his triumphs of the 1950's with arranger Gil Evans. (nashvillejazz.org)
  • In his book, These Jazzmen Of Our Times, Raymond Horricks records that Gil Evans, the modern jazz arranger, pianist and band leader, was born in 1912 in Toronto to Australian parents but moved to San Francisco where he was obsessed as a child by the sounds of jazz. (aata.dev)
  • Evans was influenced by Thornhill's unusual voicings, particularly for brass and woodwinds. (arts.gov)
  • Evans was aware of this and knew that bebop as a school of jazz could do little to advance big band arrangements as the musicians associated with the new school were more individually oriented and almost exclusively interested in solo improvising. (aata.dev)
  • Several Evans arrangements stood out, especially "Moondreams" and "Boplicity. (arts.gov)
  • The fact that the Ellington piece had almost-classical music 'movements' interested Gil Evans as a way of structuring jazz compositions and these pieces amongst others influenced him in his formative years, leaving a lasting impression that would impact on his later arrangements. (aata.dev)
  • The arrangements crafted by Lewis, Mulligan, John Carisi, and Gil Evans added more uniqueness to the nine-piece group's sound. (jazzitude.com)
  • Gil Evans was one famous arranger that used muted trumpets extensively in his arrangements and compositions. (highandright.com)
  • In the 1960s, Evans began making his own recordings, displaying his unusual voicings and distinctive settings for some of the best soloists of the time, such as Steve Lacy, Wayne Shorter , and Eric Dolphy. (arts.gov)
  • In the 1970s, Evans began exploring the music of Jimi Hendrix and taking on some of the accoutrements usually associated with rock music, including guitars, synthesizers, and electric bass. (arts.gov)
  • This album was made in a period Bob was part of the Gerry Mulligan band as a musician and arranger. (blogspot.com)
  • Evans didn't wish to follow suit although some British musicians such as Tubby Hayes in the fifties and sixties successfully fused big bands with hard bop. (aata.dev)
  • Driven in part by the social activism of the sixties, he became the leader, arranger, and organist for the Soul Company (1968-72), his racially integrated, high school rock, soul, and funk band, which performed top 40 and soul charts that Daugherty transcribed from commercial recordings. (michaeldaugherty.net)
  • Arranging started early for Evans, leading his own band when he was 16 and taking piano gigs at local hotels. (arts.gov)
  • Evans (left) began his musical career working with a small home-town band in the thirties, playing keyboard and writing pieces for them, but was quickly headhunted by the Skinnay Ennis Band for whom he played whilst beginning to hone his arranger skills. (aata.dev)
  • Gil led his own band in Stockton, California, from 1933 to 1938, playing accompaniment-rhythm piano and scoring a book of pop songs and some jazz tunes. (downbeat.com)
  • Even then," Evans remembers, "Claude had a unique way with a dance band. (downbeat.com)
  • Evans recommended the band for a summer job at Balboa, and he notes that Claude was then developing his sound, a sound based on the horns playing without vibrato except for specific places where Thornhill would indicate vibrato was to be used for expressive purposes. (downbeat.com)
  • Claude's band," continues Evans, "was always very popular with players. (downbeat.com)
  • The sound of the band didn't necessarily restrict the soloists," Gil points out. (downbeat.com)
  • Evans went on to examine the Thornhill sound more specifically: "Even before Claude added French horns, the band began to sound like a French horn band. (downbeat.com)
  • When I first heard the Thornhill band," Gil continued, "it sounded, with regard to the registers in which the sections played, a little like Glenn Miller, but it soon became evident that Claude's use of no vibrato demanded that the registers be lowered. (downbeat.com)
  • Background: In the mid 1930s, Gil Evans was leading a Benny Goodman-styled big band on the west coast. (jazzbooks.com)
  • Daugherty was jazz arranger Gil Evans' assistant for a couple of years in the '80s and was Yale University's jazz band leader, and in this piece you can hear how solos and conversations among instruments-and between instruments and singers-play into his jazz leanings. (orartswatch.org)
  • Carly Simon and Linda Ronstadt supply background vocals, saxophone great David Sanborn plays the horn, Russ Kunkel mans the percussion, and arranger David Campbell oversees the strings and woodwinds. (mcru.co.uk)
  • Through this project, you will be able to experience the entire creative process behind the documentation of some of these great unknown works of the luminary composer/arranger, Gil Evans. (artistshare.com)
  • The bassist Ben Allison, who is still largely unknown in Europe, is one of the great arrangers of American jazz, who can certainly compete with Gil Evans. (eclipsed.de)
  • In the 1980s, Evans would have occasional weekly shows at New York clubs such as the Village Vanguard and Sweet Basil, and wrote music for the movie soundtracks of Absolute Beginners and The Color of Money . (arts.gov)
  • I was also beginning to get an introduction to show music and the entertainment end of the business," Evans recalls. (downbeat.com)
  • By participating in this project you are playing an integral role in the creation of a new, historical recording of previously un-recorded Gil Evans music! (artistshare.com)
  • Since Thornhill and Evans were very particular about how their music was played, there must have been a lot of rehearsal to get this piece just right. (jazzbooks.com)
  • Russell is an interesting figure: he played the piano, but is better known as an arranger and jazz composer. (jazzfuel.com)
  • Throughout his years of playing and recording, he has worked with everyone from David Bowie and Lou Reed to Stanley Jordan and Gil Evans and even as far outreaching as Ol' Dirty Bastard, Naughty By Nature and Gnawa master Hassan Hakmoun. (ravenrecording.com)
  • Toshinari Koinuma had managed to coordinate the personnels, hired twenty one Japanese players except for Masabumi, and Gil visited Japan for the first time with Billy Harper and Marvin Peterson. (wikipedia.org)
  • Masabumi Kikuchi first visited and met with Gil Evans in spring of 1972 when Masabumi had been traveling to New York City to join in Elvin Jones' group. (wikipedia.org)
  • After years of obscurity, in his late forties Evans finally emerged as a major force in jazz. (britannica.com)
  • As an arranger, Gil Evans has few peers in jazz history. (arts.gov)
  • Although the original plan was to do live recording at Tokyo concert, Masabumi and Gil insisted studio recording after all the concerts. (wikipedia.org)
  • I'm very excited to welcome everyone to our Blue Note®/ArtistShare® Project (and our sophomore recording), Gil Evans Project: LIVE at the Jazz Standard . (artistshare.com)
  • A focus on the works of composer-arranger and pianist Gil Evans. (columbia.edu)
  • I think," Gil adds, "he was the first among the pop or jazz bands to evolve that sound. (downbeat.com)
  • Within each new verson of The Jazz Messengers, Art put equal for-sight into who became the bands arranger. (winamop.com)
  • Masabumi Kikuchi with Gil Evans is a studio album led by jazz pianist and composer Masabumi Kikuchi with support of Gil Evans, recorded during Gil's first visitation to Japan in 1972. (wikipedia.org)