This list contains the known compositions of Bill Evans. It is likely that some of his works have not survived or remain unpublished, such as "Very Little Suite", an assignment composed during his college years.
Name | Year of composition | Year of first recording | First recording | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Are You All the Things | 1974 | Intuition | A contrafact based on Jerome Kern's classic "All the Things You Are," which rearranges the words of its title | |
B Minor Waltz | 1977 | You Must Believe in Spring | For ex-girlfriend Ellaine, who committed suicide. | |
Bill's Belle | 1965–67 (appr.) | – | – | Posthumous |
Bill's Hit Tune | 1979 | We Will Meet Again | ||
Blue in Green | 1959 | 1959 | Kind of Blue | Miles Davis claimed authorship, but Evans, Earl Zindars, and many jazz historians have maintained that it was Evans who composed it (or at least co-wrote it). |
C Minor Blues Chase | 1965–67 (appr.) | – | – | Posthumous |
Carnival | 1965–67 (appr.) | – | – | Posthumous |
Catch the Wind | 1965–67 (appr.) | – | – | Posthumous |
Children's Play Song | 1970 | From Left to Right | ||
Chromatic Tune | 1965–67 (appr.) | – | – | Posthumous |
Comrade Conrad | 1971 | The Bill Evans Album | The tune originated as a Crest toothpaste jingle. It was later elaborated and dedicated to Conrad Mendenhall, a friend who had died in a car accident. [1] | |
Displacement | 1956 | New Jazz Conceptions | ||
Epilogue | 1959 | Everybody Digs Bill Evans | Short solo | |
Evanesque | 1980 (unfinished) | Completed and first recorded by Eliane Elias on her tribute album Something for You (2008) | ||
Five | 1956 | New Jazz Conceptions | Like many jazz tunes, it's based on the chords of "I Got Rhythm." It was for some years the Bill Evans Trio signature tune. | |
For Nenette | 1978 | New Conversations | For Evans' wife. There is also a lyric version titled "In April" | |
Fudgesickle Built for Two | 1962 | Loose Blues | Released in 1982 | |
Fun Ride | 1962 | Loose Blues | Released in 1982 | |
Funkallero | 1956 | Tenderly: An Informal Session | Recorded with Don Elliott and released posthumously in 2001 | |
Funny Man | 1967 | Further Conversations with Myself | ||
G Waltz | 1967 | California Here I Come | ||
Here Is Something for You | 1980 (unfinished) | From a private cassette recording; completed and recorded with added lyrics by Eliane Elias on her tribute album Something for You (2008) | ||
Interplay | 1962 | Interplay | ||
It's Love – It's Christmas | 1965–67 (appr.) | – | – | Posthumous, lyrics also by Bill Evans |
Knit for Mary F | 1980 | Letter to Evan | For fan Mary Franksen | |
Know What I Mean? | 1961 | Know What I Mean? | Piece for Cannonball Adderley's homonymous album | |
Laurie | 1979 | 1979 | We Will Meet Again | For girlfriend Laurie Verchomin |
Letter to Evan | 1979 | The Paris Concert: Edition Two | Written for his son Evan Evans, born in 1975 | |
Loose Bloose | 1962 | Loose Blues | Released in 1982 | |
Maxine | 1978 | New Conversations | For his stepdaughter, Nenette's daughter | |
My Bells | 1962 | Loose Blues | Released in 1982; first appeared on Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra in 1966 | |
N.Y.C.'s No Lark | 1963 | 1963 | Conversations with Myself | Anagram of the name of pianist Sonny Clark, a personal friend who died in 1963 |
One For Helen | 1966 | Bill Evans at Town Hall | For manager Helen Keane | |
Only Child | ||||
Orbit | 1966 | A Simple Matter of Conviction | a.k.a. Unless It's You | |
Peace Piece | 1958 | Everybody Digs Bill Evans | Improvised solo, loosely based on Leonard Bernstein's "Some Other Time" | |
Peri's Scope | 1959 | Portrait in Jazz | For girlfriend Peri Cousins | |
Prologue | 1966 | Bill Evans at Town Hall | Prologue to the solo titled "In Memory of His Father Harry L." | |
Re: Person I Knew | 1962 | Moon Beams | Anagram of the name of his friend producer Orrin Keepnews | |
Remembering the Rain | 1978 | New Conversations | ||
Show Type Tune | 1962 | How My Heart Sings! | ||
A Simple Matter of Conviction | 1966 | A Simple Matter of Conviction | ||
Since We Met | 1974 | Since We Met | Dedicated to and titled by his wife Nanette | |
34 Skidoo | 1962 | How My Heart Sings! | ||
Song for Helen | 1978 | New Conversations | For manager Helen Keane | |
Song No.1 | First recorded by Chick Corea in 2010 | |||
Story Line | 1966 | Bill Evans at Town Hall | Part of the solo titled "In Memory of His Father Harry L." | |
Sugar Plum | ||||
The Opener | ||||
Theme (What You Gave) | 1965–67 (appr.) | – | – | Posthumous |
There Came You | 1962 | Loose Blues | Released in 1982 | |
These Things Called Changes | 1966 | A Simple Matter of Conviction | ||
Tiffany | 1980 | Turn Out the Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings | For Joe LaBarbera's daughter | |
Time Out for Chris | ||||
Time Remembered | 1962 | Loose Blues | Released in 1982; first appeared on Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra in 1966 | |
Turn Out the Stars | 1966 | Bill Evans at Town Hall | First appeared in "In Memory of His Father Harry L.," an extended solo featuring other pieces; lyrics by Gene Lees | |
T.T.T. (Twelve Tone Tune) | 1971 | The Bill Evans Album | Based on a tone row | |
T.T.T.T. (Twelve Tone Tune Two) | 1973 | The Tokyo Concert | Based on a tone row | |
The Two Lonely People | 1971 | The Bill Evans Album | Lyrics by Carol Hall for the performance of the song by Tony Bennett | |
Very Early | 1949 (appr.) | 1962 | Moon Beams | Evans's first-known tune composed when he was an undergraduate |
Walkin' Up | 1962 | How My Heart Sings! | ||
Waltz for Debby | 1953 (appr.) | 1956 | New Jazz Conceptions | Written for his then recently born niece; lyrics later added by Gene Lees |
Waltz in E♭ | 1965–67 (appr.) | – | – | Posthumous |
We Will Meet Again | 1977 | You Must Believe in Spring | For his brother Harry; lyrics by Bill Evans (heard in recordings by others such as Tierney Sutton) | |
Yet Ne'er Broken | An anagram of the name of cocaine dealer Robert Kenney | |||
Your Story | 1980 | Letter to Evan |
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.
Portrait in Jazz is the fifth studio album by American jazz pianist Bill Evans as a leader, released in 1960. It is the first of only two studio albums to be recorded with his famous trio featuring bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian.
Explorations is an album by jazz pianist Bill Evans that was originally released by Riverside Records in 1961. It was the second and final studio album Evans recorded with his classic trio featuring Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums.
New Jazz Conceptions is the debut album by jazz pianist Bill Evans, recorded in two sessions during September 1956 for Riverside Records.
Conversations with Myself is a 1963 album by American jazz pianist Bill Evans recorded for Verve Records.
The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album is a 1975 studio album by singer Tony Bennett and pianist Bill Evans.
Undercurrent is a 1962 jazz album by pianist Bill Evans and guitarist Jim Hall. The two artists collaborated again in 1966 on the album Intermodulation.
Know What I Mean? is a 1962 jazz album by alto saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, accompanied by Bill Evans and the rhythm section of the Modern Jazz Quartet. It was released on the Riverside label as RLP-433.
Everybody Digs Bill Evans is a trio and solo album by jazz pianist Bill Evans. It was released in early 1959 on the Riverside Records label.
Moon Beams is a 1962 album by jazz musician Bill Evans and the first trio album he recorded after the death of bassist Scott LaFaro. It introduces two important Evans originals, "Re: Person I Knew", and "Very Early," which Evans had actually composed as an undergraduate. The originals serve as bookends to an album otherwise consisting of standards from the 1930s and 1940s.
You Must Believe in Spring is an album by American jazz pianist Bill Evans, recorded by him with bassist Eddie Gómez and drummer Eliot Zigmund in August 1977 and released in February 1981, shortly after Evans's death in September 1980.
Jazz at the Plaza Vol. I is a live album by the Miles Davis Sextet. It was recorded in 1958 and released in 1973 by Columbia Records. Duke Ellington was recorded at the same event and released as the second volume (Jazz at the Plaza Vol. II).
I Will Say Goodbye is an album by American jazz pianist Bill Evans, recorded in 1977 but not released until January 1980. It was his final album for Fantasy Records, making the title quite appropriate.
Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra is an album by American jazz pianist Bill Evans and his trio, released in 1966, featuring jazz arrangements of works by classical composers Granados, J.S. Bach, Scriabin, Fauré, and Chopin. The trio is accompanied by an orchestra consisting of strings and woodwinds arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman. Originals by both Evans and Ogerman are also included.
Bill Evans at Town Hall is a live album from 1966 by American jazz pianist Bill Evans and his trio. It is his only commercial trio recording featuring drummer Arnold Wise, and it was the last recorded appearance of bassist Chuck Israels as a regular member of the trio.
Alone (Again) is a solo piano album by American jazz pianist Bill Evans, recorded in December 1975. A follow-up to his earlier solo album Alone, it was released in 1977 on Fantasy Records and reissued on CD in 1994 by Original Jazz Classics. At the time it was recorded, Evans had been playing an increasing number of solo dates and was inspired after hearing Marian McPartland play solo in Monterey. Evans's manager Helen Keane commented:
As much as Bill enjoyed playing alone at home, and although by this time he regularly included a solo section in his concert program, he found recording in this context very difficult. It was probably the only area he felt insecure about musically, and the fact that he'd gotten a Grammy for Alone didn't seem to help.
From Left to Right is an album by American jazz pianist Bill Evans, released in 1971. It was recorded with his regular bassist Eddie Gómez and drummer Marty Morell and with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Michael Leonard. This was the first album on which Evans played a Fender Rhodes electric piano.
Intuition is a jazz album by pianist Bill Evans and bassist Eddie Gómez released by Fantasy Records in 1975.
The Gary McFarland Orchestra is an album by composer, conductor, and vibraphonist Gary McFarland with an orchestra featuring guest soloist jazz pianist Bill Evans recorded in early 1963 for Verve.
Time Remembered is a modal jazz standard composed by jazz pianist Bill Evans.
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