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Bill Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was one of the most famous jazz pianists of the 20th century, and along with McCoy Tyner and Oscar Peterson was the force behind the biggest shift in the jazz paradigm since Art Tatum and Bud Powell. His use of impressionistic harmony, his inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire and his syncopated and polyrhythmic melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists, including Herbie Hancock, Denny Zeitlin, Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett, and his work continues to inspire younger pianists such as Fred Hersch, Bill Charlap, Lyle Mays and Brad Mehldau, as well as other musicians such as guitarist John McLaughlin.

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Bill Evans was born to a mother of Russian Orthodox background and a father of Welsh descent in Plainfield, New Jersey. He received his first musical training in his mother's church.

His mother was also an amateur pianist with in an interest in modern classical composers. This caused his initial musical training to be classical piano at age 6. He also became proficient at the flute by age 13 and could play the violin.

At 12 he filled in for his older brother in Buddy Valentino's band. This event is occasionally credited for starting his interest in jazz. In the late 1940s he played "boogie woogie" in various New York clubs. He went on to receive a music scholarship to Southeastern Louisiana University and in 1950 he graduated with a degree in piano performance and teaching. Later he studied composition at the Mannes College of Music. After some time in the Army he worked at dance clubs with jazz clarinetists and guitarists.

Working in New York in the 1950s, Evans gained a profile as a sideman in traditional and so-called third stream avant-garde jazz bands. During this period, he recorded with the composer George Russell and recorded (Riverside), his first album as a leader, after its producer Orrin Keepnews was played a demo recording over the telephone. In 1958, Evans joined the Miles Davis Sextet and recorded and toured briefly with the band. His desire to pursue his own projects as a leader, problems with drug use, and conflicts with other band members, led him to leave Davis. At the request of Davis though, Evans returned to the band to record the jazz classic,

At the turn of the decades, Evans led a trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian. This group has since become one of the most acclaimed piano trios of all time. With this group, Evans's focus settled on traditional jazz standards and original compositions, with an added emphasis on interplay among the band members that often bordered on collective improvisation. The collaboration between Evans and the talented young bassist LaFaro was particularly fruitful, with the two achieving an unprecedented level of musical empathy. The trio recorded four albums: (all recorded in 1961). The latter two albums are live recordings, both drawn from the same recording date; in 2005, the full sets were collected on The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961.

LaFaro's untimely death at age twenty-five in a car accident, ten days after the Vanguard performances, left Evans devastated, and he did not record or perform in public again for several months. In 1963, having switched from Riverside to the much more widely distributed Verve, he recorded , overdubbing his piano three times, which won him his first Grammy award, for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance - Soloist or Small Group.

Bassist Chuck Israels succeeded LaFaro in the trio, but it was not until 1966, when Evans discovered 21-year-old bassist Eddie Gomez, that he found a worthy contributor to his original trio concept. Gomez's exuberance was contagious, revitalizing and inspiring Evans to new

In 1969, Marty Morell joined the trio on drums and remained until 1975, when he retired to family life. The extraordinary sensitivity of this trio is best represented by the live recordings, recorded in Canada in 1974.

Morell was replaced by Elliot Zigmund on drums in 1976. The resulting group recorded three albums, . The latter record highlighted Evans's obsession with self-destruction, including pieces dedicated to his first wife, Ellaine, and brother, Harry, both of whom by that time had committed suicide. Fittingly, the last track on the album is the theme from the movie and television show MASH, "Suicide is Painless". was released posthumously.

Gomez and Zigmund left Evans in 1978, and after several rhythm sections, Evans settled on Marc Johnson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums. This trio was to be Evans's last and, some consider, best. The group recorded several albums together during Evans' final years. Evans's music of this period was much less introspective and more driving than his previous work with Gomez and Zigmund, in part reflecting his turning to the drug cocaine to overcome his addiction to heroin.

Evans's substance abuse problems likely began during his stint with Miles Davis in the late 1950s. A heroin addict for most of his career, his health was generally poor and his financial situation worse. In the 1970s, cocaine became a serious problem for Evans. His

Although the circumstances of his life were often tragic, Evans's music always displayed his creative mastery of harmony, rhythm, and interpretive jazz conception. A brilliant classical pianist as well, Evans's work fused jazz repertoire and ensemble performance with a classical sense of form and conceptual scale. His recordings continue to impact the work of pianists, guitarists, composers, and interpreters of jazz music around the world.