Reception
Music critic Richard S. Ginell noted "With the passage of time, Bill Evans has become an entire school unto himself for pianists and a singular mood unto himself for listeners. There is no more influential jazz-oriented pianist—only McCoy Tyner exerts nearly as much pull among younger players and journeymen—."
Many of Evans's critics have focused on his detachment from the original African American roots of jazz, believing that the European and classical traditions are of much lesser import.
During his tenure with Davis, Evans had problems with the mostly black audience. For example, Peter Pettinger has pointed out that in a recording, for his solo on a tune named "Walkin," Evans received noticeably less applause than the other soloists, and for that on "All Of You," none at all.
When the miniseries Jazz was released in 2001, it was criticised for neglecting Evan's work after his departure from Miles Davis's sextet. Wynton Marsalis was the artistic director and co-producer of the series. Also, Stanley Crouch, Marsalis's mentor, was once overheard criticizing Evans, saying that he could not swing, and there was no trace of the blues in his playing. Albert Murray, also present in Jazz, has also been said to dislike Evans's music.
Miles Davis, who was always dismissing his earlier output, made no exception with his work with Bill Evans in Kind of Blue, calling it "warmed-over turkey".
Read more about this topic: Bill Evans
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of passion and who shows up one day in the reception room on the forty-ninth floor threatening to make a scene. The lawyers pay the woman off; sometimes uniformed guards accompany her to the elevators.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)
“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“Aesthetic emotion puts man in a state favorable to the reception of erotic emotion.... Art is the accomplice of love. Take love away and there is no longer art.”
—Rémy De Gourmont (1858–1915)