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Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 780
EAN: 9780300097276
ISBN: 0300097271
Label: Yale University Press
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: September 01, 2002
Publisher: Yale University Press
Studio: Yale University Press
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Editorial Review:
Perhaps it was a white jazz musician's need to negate his very ordinary American boyhood, or maybe it was in the genes he inherited from his alcoholic father--no one can be quite sure--but Bill Evans, one of the most influential American jazz pianists ever, was a drug addict. He picked up his habit shortly after joining the Miles Davis Sextet in the 1950s, but it took Evans more than 20 years to be swallowed by the abyss of heroin, methadone, and cocaine. Sitting at the piano in the shadow of Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones--the era's paragons of cool--could not have been easy for the retiring musician who suffered harsh ribbing at the hands of both bandmates and fans. Ironically, as the drugs distorted Evans's body and soul, his fingers coaxed ever more sublime music from his keyboard. Biographer Peter Pettinger was himself a professional pianist and a longtime listener of Evans, so he is expert at articulating the nuances of the music. He is perceptive too in exploring the forces that imbued in one life so much beauty and so much pain. The result is a book that is both a memorial to a burdened man and an homage to his transcendent music.
This enthralling book is the first biography in English of Bill Evans, one of the most influential of all jazz pianists. Peter Pettinger, himself a concert pianist, describes Evans's life (the personal tragedies and commercial successes), his music making (technique, compositional methods, and approach to ensemble playing), and his legacy. The book also includes a full discography and dozens of photographs.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Good book for anyone interested in the history of Evans' career
I thought this book was great in terms of a chronological look at Bill Evans' career, but there was precious little info. on Bill Evans the man. I am not a pianist, and I found some of the jargon in this book boring at times. It can be a rather hard read for someone not well-versed in the jazz idiom. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a strong overview of Bill Evans' career, and Pettinger did a wonderful job of assembling an unbiased look at this great musician.
Rating:  - How My Opinion Wavers
The good: This book compiles an amazing amount of information about one of the very best musicians in 20th century jazz. It chronicles Evans' life in great detail, with innumerable gig dates and explanation of how and why he and his bandmates bounced in and out of groups and gigs. The book offers a few musical insights that would appeal to jazz students. The book mentions Evans' health and drug problems only enough to better explain other events, so as not to provoke voyeuristic guilt in the ... Read More
Rating: - Mainly for fans, but solid
As other reviewers have noted, this is a rather dry tome in some ways, but if you appreciate Evans' musical genius at all, then it's a worthwhile read.
Not a lot of gossip here, although Bill's junk and blow issues are honestly but never obsessively dealt with. I love the scene where Bill gets a ten grand advance in the early 60s and has his pal drive him around to all the friends who loaned him money for smack rather than see him get in deep with the mob. Bill paid every debt he had; not a ... Read More
Rating:  - Very informative and easy to read
For Jazz Piano fans this is a must have book, written by a concert pianist Peter Pettinger. This is a lot more than the cobbled together batch of newspaper stories you get with biographies of some pop stars. There is a brief look at his early years, but mostly the book concentrates on the music and a few of the major events in Bill Evans sadly short life.
A lot of time and research has gone into this fascinating book. Did you know for example that Conversations with Myself was recorded ... Read More
Rating:  - Distorted, Dull, and Uninformative
This is not so much a biography as an annotated discography. Immensely significant aspects of Bill Evans's life are either mentioned only in passing are else skipped over entirely. Mostly this book comprises a seemingly endless and thoroughly tedious compilation of superficial descriptions of Bill Evans recording sessions.
Very occasionally the book attempts to impart some actual musical information, and this is where it falls flattest and is most misleading. The author is purportedly some ... Read More
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