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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

Composer of the Week - Brand

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Bill Evans (1929-1980)

Composer of the Week: Bill Evans (1929-1980): Episode 2: Bill Evans Records with Cannonball

Bill Evans (1929-1980)

Episode 2

Episode 2: Bill Evans Records with Cannonball

Bill Evans Records with Cannonball

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Bill Evans (1929-1980), Bill Evans Records with Cannonball

Donald Macleod focuses on Bill Evans's performances with Julian 'Cannonball' Adderley.

Bill Evans performs alongside Cannonball Adderley

He was called the Poet of the Piano, and the Chopin of Jazz, this week Donald Macleod delves into the life and music of Bill Evans. Although Evans started off in the world of classical music, it wasn't long before he got the Jazz bug. His classical training wasn't wasted though, for it went on to influence the way he performed for the rest of his life. His touch at the piano became legendary, and his preferred ensemble for performing his own compositions, and those by others, was the Jazz trio combining piano, bass and drums. Evans came to prominence when invited to work alongside Miles Davis and, in time, Evans would go on to perform with the likes of Tony Bennett, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Stan Getz and Monica Zetterlund.

Performing alongside Miles Davis had brought Bill Evans to a much wider audience. Evans soon left the band though, and pursued his own career making a new album called Everybody Digs Bill Evans, which included a new work Peace Piece. Towards the end of the 1950s, things were looking good for Evans, although his addiction to heroin was starting to take its toll. He'd agreed to work with Davis again on the album, Kind of Blue, which included a work by Evans called Blue in Green, although Davis claimed it as his own. By the time Evans was thirty, he was well known, popular, and was soon to form his own historic trio including Paul Motian and Scott LaFaro. They gelled together perfectly, and went into studio to record works such as Autumn Leaves, and Evans's Peri's Scope. This pinnacle of perfection for Evans, though, was short-lived; bassist Scott LaFaro died in a traffic accident shortly afterwards.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Bill Evans, dubbed the 'poet of the piano'

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Bill Evans, the 'poet of the piano' and the 'Chopin of jazz'. He came to prominence working with Miles Davis and played with Tony Bennett and Stan Getz

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Composer of the Week

Bill Evans (1929-1980)

Episode 2: Bill Evans Records with Cannonball

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