William John Evans was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, and trademark rhythmically independent "singing" melodic lines continue to influence jazz pianists today.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1958.
Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark was an American jazz pianist and composer who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.
Pharoah Sanders was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", Sanders played a prominent role in the development of free jazz and spiritual jazz through his work as a member of John Coltrane's groups in the mid-1960s, and later through his solo work. He released more than thirty albums as a leader and collaborated extensively with vocalist Leon Thomas and pianist Alice Coltrane, among many others. Fellow saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world".
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer.
Hal Russell was an American free jazz composer, band leader and multi-instrumentalist who performed mainly on saxophone and drums but occasionally on trumpet or vibraphone. Russell's fiery music was marked by significant humor, not unlike much of Dutch drummer Han Bennink's output. His music was so accessible that People magazine hailed The Finnish Swiss Tour on ECM as one of its top 5 albums of the year. Russell set the table for the free improv and free jazz scene which exploded later in the 1990s in Chicago.
Paul Quinichette was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He was known as the "Vice President" or "Vice Prez" for his emulation of the breathy style of Lester Young, whose nickname was "The President", or simply "Prez". Young called Quinichette "Lady Q".
Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Waldron led his own bands and played for those led by Charles Mingus, Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, and Eric Dolphy, among others. During Waldron's period as house pianist for Prestige Records in the late 1950s, he appeared on dozens of albums and composed for many of them, including writing his most famous song, "Soul Eyes", for Coltrane. Waldron was often an accompanist for vocalists, and was Billie Holiday's regular accompanist from April 1957 until her death in July 1959.
Pete Jolly was a two-time Grammy-nominated American West Coast jazz pianist and accordionist. He is known for his performance of television themes and movie soundtracks.
Stephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer. He played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties.
Jake Heggie is an American composer of opera, vocal, orchestral, and chamber music. He is best known for his operas and art songs as well as for his collaborations with internationally renowned performers and writers.
"With a Song in My Heart" is a show tune from the 1929 Rodgers and Hart musical Spring Is Here.
Claus Ogerman was a German arranger, conductor, and composer best known for his work with Billie Holiday, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra, Bill Evans, Michael Brecker, and Diana Krall.
Calvin "Cal" Massey was an American jazz trumpeter and composer.
Joyce DiDonato is an American opera singer and recitalist. A coloratura mezzo-soprano, she has performed operas and concert works spanning from the 19th-century Romantic era to those by Handel and Mozart.
This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1959.
James G. Aton, best known as Jim Aton or Jimmy Aton, was an American jazz bassist, pianist, vocalist and composer. He worked with numerous notable artists including Billie Holiday, Anita O'Day and Bill Evans. He appeared in films such as Bop Girl Goes Calypso (1957) with the Bobby Troup Trio, Roustabout (1964) with Elvis Presley and Barbara Stanwyck, and in They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969) with Jane Fonda.
Passing By is a 73-minute studio album of contemporary art songs and duets composed by Jake Heggie, performed by Isabel Bayrakdarian, Zheng Cao, Joyce DiDonato, Susan Graham, Paul Groves, Keith Phares and Frederica von Stade with Dawn Harms (violin), CarlaMaria Rodrigues (viola), Emil Miland (cello) and Heggie himself at the piano. It was released in 2010.
Charles William Porter known professionally as Charlie Porter is an American trumpeter, composer and music educator based in Portland, Oregon. Porter has been awarded a Grammy Award at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards for his collaboration on the album Songplay, in 2020. He has recorded many albums as a side musician, and has released two albums as a leader.
The Maiden and the Nightingale is a piano piece by the Spanish composer Enrique Granados. The piece, which lasts about six minutes, is part of his suite Goyescas which was inspired by the work of the painter Goya.
