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Bill Evans - Everything Happens to Me: A Musical Biography
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 780
EAN: 9780879307080
ISBN: 0879307080
Label: Backbeat Books
Manufacturer: Backbeat Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 208
Publication Date: March 01, 2002
Publisher: Backbeat Books
Studio: Backbeat Books
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Editorial Review:
A Grammy winner and pioneer of multi-track jazz recording, Bill Evans was the pianist on Miles Davis' classic Kind of Blue album and a key figure in the development of modern jazz piano. This new Backbeat book details his wide-ranging and absorbing career, from freelance work in the 1950s, through his groundbreaking trios and solo releases, to his relationships with various record labels, to the intense final phase before his death in 1980. Printed on top-quality stock, the book includes fantastic full-page photos throughout, and a special color section.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Prefer it to Pettinger's!
I find Pettingers book borders on the sycophantic at times. Although it is a great book he's a real 'fan' and in fairness he makes no denial of the fact. That spoils the book for me a bit. This Shadwick book is more focused on the music and how it evolves in a more useful way, which helped me to understand how Evans slots into the history of Jazz piano. As a Jazz pianist myself I think this is a great book and I've learned loads from it.
Rating: - Not Bad At All!
I'm only writing this to bump up the book's rating a bit and to offer a more positive opinion that the reader might take into consideration. You might assume from some of the reviews here that this is the worst jazz bio ever written, and it's definitely not the case. Shadwick is a fine writer, and his understanding of Evans' work is not in doubt. Sure, there are liner note excerpts quoted in the text, but find me a jazz book that doesn't call on liner essays, among other references. For the most ... Read More
Rating:  - Musical Biography?? In what way?
I also prefer How My Heart Sings over this one -I'm a huge Evans fan and as a jazz musician, I was thrilled about finding a "musical biography". Well, just repeating the same old stories as all the other books on the subject and then throwing in comments about the recordings -some of them suspiciously harsh, even- does not make it any more musical than any other biography. Not only that, but the times he comments on the actual music, he is almost invariably mistaken and wrong; "Freddie ... Read More
Rating:  - Couldn't even come close to finishing it
I agree with other reviewers "...My Heart Sings" is vastly superior. Never mind the tiny print and wide columns which makes this book a conscious effort to even read, the writing gives you nothing of the feeling or experience of Bill Evans. Better to just listen to the music. I wouldn't even give my copy to other Evans' fans for fear of being associated with it so I tossed it. What a disappointment. Doesn't the author or publisher have an editor?
Rating: - pictures--nice. text--yawn.
Like most other reviewers, I love Bill Evans' records and I hear a certain magic in his playing. The trouble with this book--other than the microscopic text and exceedingly wide columns--is its utterly dry and monotonous narration.
The book is fairly interesting--whether accurate or not, I couldn't say--in its account of Evans' quiet ascent from obscurity to the jazz pantheon he eventually came to occupy. Unfortunately, once we've learned how Evans reached the top, book becomes excruciating in its ... Read More
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