Bill Evans is a real serious jazz pianist who, in my book, crossed over boundaries in terms of color. He used the piano as his canvas.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Too many jazz pianists limit themselves to a personal style, a trademark, so to speak. They confine themselves to one type of playing.
We're trying to do what Miles Davis would have wanted us to do, which is approach it as artists with his life as the canvas.
I'm not Bill Evans. I'm not Keith Jarrett. I'm basically a singer who plays along with his voice.
Whenever I open a book about jazz, I turn to the index and look for Lennie Tristano, the incredible pianist; Lee Konitz, the luminous alto sax player; and Warne Marsh, the tenor player who captured some of the most beautiful sounds in the world.
The first jazz pianist I heard was Thelonious Monk. My father was listening to an album of his called 'Monk's Dream' almost every day from the time I was born.
Bud Powell's probably the biggest influence on my piano playing.
In my view a jazz musician is a great musician.
I'm a pianist - I studied jazz piano in college.
A few years later, my Uncle David took me to the Earle Theatre to hear Duke Ellington.
Miles Davis was doing something inherently African, something that has to do with all forms of American music, not just jazz.