Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings (Review)

Peter Pettinger. Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998. (Barnes & Noble)

I just finished Peter Pettinger's biography of the great jazz pianist, Bill Evans, entitled Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings.

The title of the book is derived from the title of a 1962 recording that a new Bill Evans Trio made a year after the death of bassist Scott LaFaro, whose innovative bass playing had helped take an earlier Evans Trio to undreamed of heights, and more specifically one of the cuts on that recording, a brightly swinging piece that belies the depression into which Evans had sunk after the death of LaFaro.  ("How My Heart Sings" on YouTube)

There is much to like about the book. Pettinger is himself a professional pianist and unabashed fan of Bill Evans. The former allows him to explain many of the technical intricacies of Evans's style and particularly the influences of classical composers on Evans. The latter allows him to write about that style with an enthusiasm that is contagious; in many ways, Pettinger is still the young boy in the jazz club audience listening to his idol. As a discography, too, the book is excellent. Pettinger outlines the setting, motivation, and backstory to most of Evans's recordings and includes a detailed listing of every recording that has been available for public purchase.

However, I do have a few quibbles with Pettinger's book. First, in spite of the fact that Pettinger's knowledge of the piano allows him to explain the details of Evans's music, his knowledge seems more classical and less jazz oriented. His explanations also strike me as a bit overwhelming to someone without his own depth of knowledge of music theory.

Pettinger also fails to discuss the more tumultuous side of Evans's life in sufficient detail. As one reviewer suggested, it is as if Pettinger is more interested in Evans the pianist than in Evans the man. Consequently, there is little discussion until the final chapter about Evans's drug habit. When we learn that Evans is dying and that drugs are to blame, we are surprised because little has been said about his drug use or his fragile physical condition until that point. Likewise, little is said about the musicians with whom Evans interacted, other than those who played in his various groups.

The lack of discussion about Evans's drug use is regrettable from a musical standpoint. As at least one reviewer has pointed out, there is a great difference in the smooth heroin-like sound of "Sunday at the Village Vanguard" and the more aggressive cocaine-like sound of the recordings towards the end of his career and life.

In spite of these points, however, I highly recommend Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings to anyone with an interest in the great pianist or in modern jazz in general. It may not be the definitive work on Evans, but it's a darn good start.

Robert