Gil Evans

Fact Sheet

Occupation	Pianist
Musical genre:	Jazz
Birthday	13 May 1913
Sign	Taurus
Birthplace	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Date of death	March 20, 1988 (age 74)

Gil Evans (13 May 1913 - 20 March 1988) was a jazz arranger and pianist; noted for working with Miles Davis. His birth name was Ian Ernest Gilmore Green.

Evans was born in Toronto, Canada.

Works with Miles Davis

Miles Davis was a noted American trumpet player, with whom Gil Evans worked during their early career. Their collaboration started in 1948, when they both contributed to a nonet, of which works was later known as The Birth of the Cool. Years later, the two men started collaborating more extensively, first with Miles Ahead, then with Porgy and Bess, Sketches of Spain and lastly with the less-appreciated Quiet Nights. It is widely accepted, that though all these four records were sold primarily with the name of Davis, (often credited as Miles Davis and the Gil Evans Big Band) Evans' contribution was just as important, if not even more important. The concept of their work was a companionship of classically influenced big band jazz with a skillful soloist as Davis. All their work featured arrangements written by Evans for a big band, which Evans also rehearsed, onto which Davis than played with his extraordinary melodic and stylistic skill and gift. Though perhaps not as ground breaking than for example Davis's Kind of Blue, Evans' and Davis's work can be appreciated as one of the magnificients masterpieces of jazz music.

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