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July 4, 2008 - Bill Evans is one of the giants of jazz piano and one of the most influential jazz players to emerge in the second half of the 20th century.

Born in Plainfield, N.J., in 1929, Evans grew up watching his mother and older brother play the piano. At age six, he began his own classical piano lessons. He would go on to study the flute and violin during his childhood. He pursued music throughout high school, even playing boogie woogie piano and dance hall gigs around his home town. Evans attended Southeastern Louisiana University on a music scholarship and graduated with a degree in piano performance and music education.

After a tour in the army from 1951- 1954, Evans began playing on the New York jazz scene, where he gained a reputation as a talented and solid sideman. In 1956, in addition to making a critically acclaimed first album, New Jazz Conceptions, Evans also found himself recording alongside such artists as Art Farmer, Lee Konitz and Bob Brookmeyer. Evans caught the ear of Miles Davis who liked the pianist's impressionistic approach so much that he asked him to join his now-legendary sextet. The group also featured John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley. Though he was only with the group for a short time, Evans and Davis helped give birth to modal jazz with the seminal recording Kind of Blue. Evans also wrote the liner notes for the album.

In 1959, Evans started his own trio with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian. Together the group developed a unique approach to typical piano trios that featured group improvisation and simultaneous interplay between all members.

Following LaFaro's tragic and early death in 1961, a devastated Evans didn't record for almost a year. When he returned to the piano, he began working to re-form his trio, first with Chuck Israels and later, Gary Peacock. In 1966, Evans found bassist Eddie Gomez and, with drummer Marty Morell, created what is considered the second great Bill Evans Trio. The group performed and recorded together for nearly 10 years. In 1978, Evans formed what would be his last trio with bassist Marc Johnson and Joe LaBarbara.

Evans recorded more than fifty albums as leader. His notable collaborations include recordings with such artists as Cannonball Adderley, Tony Bennett, Toots Thielemans, Jim Hall and Stan Getz. Evans received five Grammy awards as well as a posthumously awarded Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Evans battled a heroin addiction throughout the 1950s and '60s. After being clean for most of the '70s, Evans fell back into addiction, this time using cocaine. The culmination of years of drug use caught up with him when he passed away on Sept. 15, 1980.

Originally recorded Nov. 6, 1978. Originally broadcast May 27, 1979.