Bill Evans is the most influential modern jazz pianist. He was born in Plainfield, New Jersey on August 16, 1929. He is well-known for introducing an influential approach to trio performances. His trio showed many jazz musicians on how important the roles of bass and drums are to the jazz music. Evans is one of the most popular jazz musicians of his generation. Even among many leading jazz musicians today, Evans would stay on the top of the list with his distinctive approach to jazz music and his playing style. The reason why Evans was and still is the most memorable jazz musician is that his style of music was opposed to the new jazz movements of his time. The jazz music during his time was moving towards more refined style of jazz, such…show more content… His father Harry had many alcohol-related problems which led to poor home environment. He had a younger brother Harold who was two years older than him. Evans had a really close relationship with his parents and his brother. Their whole family had a great musical talents. When Evans was six years old, he had his first piano lesson from his mother with his brother Harold. Even though he is well-known for jazz music, his first piano lesson was classical music. A year after his first piano lesson with his mother, Evans began to take lesson from his new teacher Helen Leland. He continued his learning of classical music until the age of 12. At the beginning of high school, he was first exposed to jazz music and had his first jazz performance as a substitute of a sick pianist in Buddy Valentino’s band. From then on, he began to shift to jazz music from classical music with the influences from jazz-classical composers such as, Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, and Franz Liszt. He pursued music throughout high school and college. Evans attended Southeastern Louisiana University and graduated with a degree in music education and piano performance. During his college life, he held many street jazz performances and dancehall gigs around his home
