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Adrian Chiles: why I love Bill Evans Adrian Chiles: why I love Bill Evans
(about 9 hours later)
I was a mad Led Zeppelin fan when I was 13 or 14. But one day, I was browsing through my dad’s record collection when an album jumped out at me: Since We Met, by an American pianist and jazz-trio leader called Bill Evans. And that got me hooked. It’s everything I think jazz should be: the classic trio of bass, piano and drums, with a wonderfully sharp, smart and simple title track.I was a mad Led Zeppelin fan when I was 13 or 14. But one day, I was browsing through my dad’s record collection when an album jumped out at me: Since We Met, by an American pianist and jazz-trio leader called Bill Evans. And that got me hooked. It’s everything I think jazz should be: the classic trio of bass, piano and drums, with a wonderfully sharp, smart and simple title track.
Trad jazz doesn’t suit me, and I never got into high-tempo free jazz – it just sounds like everyone’s playing different rhythms as rapidly as possible. So, though I often say I like jazz, maybe it’s more accurate to say I like Evans. Since We Met was one of his late albums, recorded live at the Village Vanguard in New York in 1974 with bassist Eddie Gómez and drummer Marty Morrell. Evans had done time as a soloist and sideman in other groups before setting up his own trio. Despite being classically trained, learning four different instruments, he was hugely nervous on stage, but he found himself in the music. He had a desperately sad life, though: he had an abusive father, his brother killed himself, and so did one of his partners. He developed a raging addiction to heroin, then cocaine, which eventually killed him at the age of 51. Trad jazz doesn’t suit me, and I never got into high-tempo free jazz – it just sounds like everyone’s playing different rhythms as rapidly as possible. So, though I often say I like jazz, maybe it’s more accurate to say I like Evans. Since We Met was one of his late albums, recorded live at the Village Vanguard in New York in 1974 with bassist Eddie Gómez and drummer Marty Morrell. Evans had done time as a soloist and sideman in other groups before setting up his own trio. Despite being classically trained, learning four different instruments, he was hugely nervous on stage, but he found himself in the music. He had a desperately sad life, though: he had an abusive father, his brother killed himself, and so did one of his partners. He developed a raging addiction to heroin, then cocaine, which eventually killed him at the age of 51.
Another classic album I liked at the time was Miles Davis’s A Kind of Blue. It turned out Evans was the pianist on that, the only white member of the group. Davis said Evans had “quiet fire”, which is beautifully put. I don’t think there’s a jazz pianist alive who isn’t influenced by Bill Evans. At school, my English teacher Mr Ralph was fanatical about him. He was a pianist and asked me to join his trio. The only thing I’m remotely competent at is double-bass, so I played that, with my friend Neil on drums. I remember talking to Mr Ralph about other pianists, and he said: “No, it’s got to be Bill!” I thought that was a bit like saying Shakespeare was the only writer, but I’ve come to agree with him. Another classic album I liked at the time was Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue. It turned out Evans was the pianist on that, the only white member of the group. Davis said Evans had “quiet fire”, which is beautifully put. I don’t think there’s a jazz pianist alive who isn’t influenced by Bill Evans. At school, my English teacher Mr Ralph was fanatical about him. He was a pianist and asked me to join his trio. The only thing I’m remotely competent at is double-bass, so I played that, with my friend Neil on drums. I remember talking to Mr Ralph about other pianists, and he said: “No, it’s got to be Bill!” I thought that was a bit like saying Shakespeare was the only writer, but I’ve come to agree with him.
I used to go to the Pizza Express jazz club in Soho and watch all these bass players, mesmerised, their fingers as big as my thighs. I love playing the double-bass, though I’ve never done it seriously enough. A friend recently offered me one she didn’t have space for, but I live in a flat – it’d drive the neighbours mad. Still, I pick it up every so often and have a go. It’s a great bluffer’s instrument. I don’t know why we give kids violins: a quarter of a millimetre out and it sounds like a cat’s being run over. But with the bass, you can get away with anything. When I was presenting The One Show, Nigel Kennedy came on and I said: “Let’s jam.” They got me a bass and we played Fever. He told me I was good, but the truth was he made me sound good.I used to go to the Pizza Express jazz club in Soho and watch all these bass players, mesmerised, their fingers as big as my thighs. I love playing the double-bass, though I’ve never done it seriously enough. A friend recently offered me one she didn’t have space for, but I live in a flat – it’d drive the neighbours mad. Still, I pick it up every so often and have a go. It’s a great bluffer’s instrument. I don’t know why we give kids violins: a quarter of a millimetre out and it sounds like a cat’s being run over. But with the bass, you can get away with anything. When I was presenting The One Show, Nigel Kennedy came on and I said: “Let’s jam.” They got me a bass and we played Fever. He told me I was good, but the truth was he made me sound good.
Liking jazz as a teenager was hardly the coolest thing in the world, but I was never self-conscious about it. I just loved the music. I’m a huge fan of the pianist Mose Allison, must have seen him live 30 times, and I love Stan Kenton and Count Basie. My only worry is that jazz is in danger of dying out. I went to see a saxophonist recently and realised I was the youngest person in the room – but then I’ve also sat in audiences full of hipsters. And to be honest, I’m more comfortable with the old farts. I’ve got a pair of sandals and I do possess socks. It’s getting to that time in life. Liking jazz as a teenager was hardly the coolest thing in the world, but I was never self-conscious about it. I just loved the music. I’m a huge fan of the pianist Mose Allison, must have seen him live 30 times, and I love Stan Kenton and Count Basie. My only worry is that jazz is in danger of dying out. I went to see a saxophonist recently and realised I was the youngest person in the room – but then I’ve also sat in audiences full of hipsters. And to be honest, I’m more comfortable with the old farts. I’ve got a pair of sandals and I do possess socks. It’s getting to that time in life.
Bill in briefBill in brief
Way in: “The studio album Everybody Digs Bill Evans. Peace Piece is one of the simplest jazz tracks ever, a thing of extraordinary beauty: same theme all the way through, a series of soft chords in the left hand with the gentlest improvisation in the right.” Way in: “The studio album Everybody Digs Bill Evans. Peace Piece is one of the simplest jazz tracks ever, a thing of extraordinary beauty: same theme all the way through, a series of soft chords in the left hand with the gentlest improvisation in the right.”
Key work: “Since We Met – there’s a purity about it, you can hear exactly what they’re trying to do.”Key work: “Since We Met – there’s a purity about it, you can hear exactly what they’re trying to do.”
In three words: “Gotta be Bill.”In three words: “Gotta be Bill.”
• Adrian Chiles presents 5 Live Daily.• Adrian Chiles presents 5 Live Daily.