William D. Evans (born February 9, 1958) is an American jazz saxophonist,[1] who was a member of the Miles Davis group in the 1980s and has since led several of his own bands, including Push and Soulgrass.[2] Evans plays tenor and soprano saxophones. He has recorded over 27 solo albums and received two Grammy Award nominations. He recorded an award-winning album called Bill Evans – Vans Joint with the WDR Big Band in 2009.
Evans was born in Clarendon Hills, Illinois, United States.[1] His father was a classical piano prodigy and until junior high school Evans studied classical piano. He attended Hinsdale Central High School and studied with Bunky Green and Joe Daly in Chicago while attending high school. Early in his studies he was able to hear such artists as Sonny Stitt and Stan Getz at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago.
At the age of 22, he joined Miles Davis and was part of his comeback in the early to mid–1980s.He was instrumental in helping Davis put the group together, bringing in Mike Stern, Marcus Miller and John Scofield. [2] Notable albums recorded with Davis include The Man With The Horn, We Want Miles, Star People, and Decoy. Evans is unrelated to pianist Bill Evans (1929–1980), who played with Davis in the 1950s.[1]
He joined the reformed Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1984 and performed with them until they broke up in 1987.[1] Beginning in 1990 he toured with his own band.[1]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
