Evans, Gil

Born in a family of Australian immigrants, Evans took his surname from his miner stepfather. When Gil was still a child, the family often moved from place to place until they settled in California .

Evans was a self-taught musician. A tendency to jazz manifested itself at the age of 15. The early recordings of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong had a special influence on Evans. In 1933 he organized his first jazz band in Stockton , in 1937 - the second such group in Balboa Beach . In 1941 - 1942 and after the war, Evans worked as an arranger of dance and entertainment numbers for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra. In 1946, he was discharged from the American army and has since lived in New York .

In the early 1950s worked as an arranger on radio and television; in 1952 he performed with J. Mulligen in the club Basin Street East . In 1957 - 1963 he collaborated with Miles Davis as the arranger and conductor of the orchestra accompanying him (“The Gil Evans Orchestra”).

In 1957 he recorded his first album Big Stuff . In 1958, it was followed by New Bottle Old Wine , and at the end of 1960 - software Out of the Cool . In 1968, Evans recorded a “Latin American” album with singer Astrud Gilberto - Look to the Rainbow . In the same year he received a Guggenheim scholarship.

Since 1970, Evans began working with electronic music, in particular in jazz rock and free jazz . In 1969 - 1971 he released the album Blues In Orbit , in 1971 - Where Flamingos Fly , in 1973 - Svengali . In 1974, Evans successfully performed at Carnegie Hall . In the 1970s and 1980s he toured in Japan (1972, 1976), Switzerland , France , Italy , Sweden (1974), Poland (1976), Germany (1978), Denmark , Finland (1981), Great Britain (1983) .

In the last years of his life he released the albums Pristress (1977), Live At The Public Theater (1980), Live At Sweet Basil and Farewell (1984-88). Together with Lee Konits , the album Heroes & Anti-Heroes (1980) was made.

Bud and Bird's Evans album (1986) in 1989 won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance.

• Stein Crease S. Gil Evans: Out of the cool. His life and music. A Cappella Books, 2001, 384 p.
• Hicock L. Castles made of sound. The story of Gil Evans. Da Capo Press, 2002, 306 p.