Bill Evans
piano
Jazz pianist of Barry’s own generation; Barry counts him among the pianists who would have named Bud Powell the best, and once told a class he wanted bebop explained there, not Evans-style sounds.
- mentions
- 7
- recordings
- 7
- Barry speaking
- 4
What Barry says
In Barry’s era every pianist agreed on one star. Ask Chick Corea, Bill Evans or Wynton Kelly who the best piano player was, he says, and each would have answered Bud Powell, unlike today’s scene with its many competing names.
He groups Evans with Wynton Kelly, John Lewis, Hank Jones and himself: asked for the best pianist in the world, some of them might have said Art Tatum, but the young ones among them would all have said Bud Powell.
In a class on Stella by Starlight he says bebop is what the school is there to find out about: he does not want to hear Bill Evans sounds, he wants someone to explain every simple thing in the music, such as why Bud Powell played a phrase as he did.
Explaining why many younger players puzzle him, he names Evans with Monk, Art Tatum, Bud Powell and Al Haig as pianists who never played the way the young ones do, and says the music is two-handed.
Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶479Ted Panken, For Barry Harris’ 82nd Birthday ¶30
In his own words
If you went and asked Bill Evans, and he was here, and you asked Bill Evans, you’d say, who’s the best piano player, you’d say Bud Powell.
If you had asked Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans, John Lewis, Hank Jones, me? If you had asked us who was the best pianist in the world... most of us, the young ones like this, there’s only one name you say, Bud Powell.
We don’t want to know nothing else. I don’t want to hear Bill Evans’ sounds. I don’t even want to hear that or nothing.
I don’t understand why they play this way, and Monk didn’t play that way, Art Tatum didn’t play that way, Bud Powell didn’t play that way, Al Haig didn’t play that way, Bill Evans didn’t play that way.
Every mention
7 moments in the recordings, 4 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
Interview: Detroit, Bud Powell and the shuffle
- 9:37
Asked who the best pianist was, Evans would have said Bud Powell, like everyone of Barry’s era.
Accepting the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award
- 7:16
Listed with Wynton Kelly, John Lewis, Hank Jones and Barry among pianists who looked to Bud Powell.
Stella by Starlight
- 16:49
Tells a class he does not want to hear Bill Evans sounds, only bebop explained.
On Bill Evans and other pianists
- 0:09
Garbled clip: made to hear Bill Evans constantly on car rides, he asks why Evans is suddenly called the greatest.
My Chat With Chris Parks From Things I Learned From Barry Harris
- 53:23
A student
Chris Parks recalls people urging Barry to play his own tunes, the way Bill Evans played his.
Artists House Master Class Barry Harris - Introduction by Gary Giddins
- 7:29
Someone else
Gary Giddins notes Evans, like most pianists, tried the Fender Rhodes in the 1970s; Barry never changed.
ManagersPro.com “Barry Harris talks about as a mentor to developing pianists.”
- 7:29
Someone else
Another upload of the same Giddins introduction: Evans tried the electric piano, Barry kept his style.
In the interviews and notes
Asked why he dislikes so many younger players, Barry says he cannot follow their logic, their grasp of jazz or their disrespect for older musicians, and that Monk, Tatum, Bud Powell, Al Haig and Bill Evans never played the way they do.
In the published DownBeat version of the same complaint, with Evans again on his list, he adds that young pianists treat the right hand as only for single notes and cannot play two-handed chords, and doubts they really listen to the masters they name.
A former class member recalls Barry’s story of a driver who was a big Evans fan and went on about him. Barry’s point, he says, was not to run Evans down but that Evans should not be raised above the other greats of his time.
23 Reddit users (handles kept per comment), Reddit: first-hand recollections of Barry Harris’s classes ¶6123 Reddit users (handles kept per comment), Reddit: first-hand recollections of Barry Harris’s classes ¶62
Tom Cleary places Barry’s trio album At the Jazz Workshop on the Bud Powell trio model, centred on piano improvisation, rather than the freer rhythm-section style he links to John Coltrane and Bill Evans in those years.
Tom Cleary (University of Vermont), What is this scale called: Charlie Parker ¶11
A forum member observes that bop pianists, Barry included, mostly keep the left hand to sparse shell voicings while soloing on fast tunes, the classic Bud Powell approach, and adds that even Bill Evans tends to do the same.
jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Things I learned from Barry Harris Study Group ¶48jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Things I learned from Barry Harris Study Group ¶49
Another forum member sets Barry’s route through a minor ii-V-i (start from the dominant related to the half-diminished chord, join it to the minor with a diminished seventh arpeggio) against the jazz-school Locrian sharp-two scale, which he traces to Bill Evans or earlier players.
jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), The Barry Harris scale for ii V in Minor (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶44jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), The Barry Harris scale for ii V in Minor (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶46
Method ideas nearby
Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.