Tonight's Book: How My Heart Sings by Peter Pettinger
"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."
Tonight's Playlist
Note: I - click to buy from the iTunes store (Canada) (You must have iTunes installed on your computer in order to buy tracks from the iTunes store); A - click to buy from Amazon.ca (Canada) (All subject to availability)Theme - Oliver Nelson Big Band - "Stolen Moments" (excerpt) I A
Burning for Buddy feat. Steve Gadd - "Love For Sale" I A
Bill Evans - "Lucky To Be Me" I A
Sonny Rollins - "The Man I Love" A
Sophie Milman - "I Feel Pretty" I A
Miles Davis Quintet - "Prince Of Darkness" I A
Quincy Jones - "The Quintessence" I A
Blossom Dearie - "Some Other Time" I A
Bill Evans Trio - "Milestones" I A
Bill Evans and Jim Hall - "I've Got You Under My Skin" A
Mike Mainieri - "Somewhere" I A
Emilie-Claire Barlow - "What A Little Moonlight Can Do" I A
Yakou Tribe - "Holte"
Re:Jazz - "Finally"
Ahmed Abdul-Malik - "Out Of Nowherre" I A
Mose Allison - "The Earth Wants You" I A
Gary Burton and Chick Corea - "Tweak" A
Bill Evans Trio - "Autumn Leaves" I A
Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhart - "Blues En Mineur" I A
Sophie Milman - "Something In The Air Between Us" I A
Sonny Stitt - "Blues Greasy" A
Capitol All Stars - "Escape Hatch" A
Michel Camilo - "Trilogy" I A
James Campbell and Gene DiNovi - "Divertimento" I
Holly Cole - "Waters Of March" I A
Shirley Scott - "Hip Soul" A
Dick Hyman - "My Fate Is In Your Hands" I A
Ella Fitzgerald - "Swingin' Shepherd Blues" I A
Dave Holland Quintet - "Shadow Dance" A
Bill Evans Trio - "My Foolish Heart" I A
Theme - Oliver Nelson Big Band - "Stolen Moments" (excerpt) I A
Keith Jarrett Trio - "In Love In Vain" I A
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