August 16 is the birthday of pianist Bill Evans (1929-1980), arguably the most influential jazz pianist of the last 60 years. Evans had an impressionistic sound and an introverted style that allowed him to expand the traditional jazz repertoire and introduce a more European, classical style of playing. A wonderful biography of Evans is Peter Pettinger's Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings. (Available from Barnes & Noble)
Evans plays "Waltz for Debby" at:
In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends two albums by Evans, The Village Vanguard Sessions and Intuition. Both are available from Barnes & Noble: the remastered The Coplete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961 and Intuition.
