Gil Evans (no relation to Bill) was a Canadian-born composer, arranger, and band leader who is considered to be one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz history. Evans had a long and productive career, but remains best known for his celebrated collaborations with trumpeter Miles Davis. Two prime examples of that collaboration can be heard in the videos below, recorded at the 1991 Montreux Jazz Festival. These performances also combined the talents of Gil and his orchestra with Quincy Jones, in addition to featuring Miles brooding solos.
The topmost video, My Ship is a popular tune written for the 1941 Broadway musical Lady in the Dark, with music by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The second video is Evans’ brilliant arrangement of Gershwin’s ever popular jazz standard, Summertime, from Porgy and Bess. Miles Davis soulful solo captures the essence of the song and the mood of the 1935 opera. The audio below, La Nevada, is from Gil Evans’ 1960 album Out of the Cool … one of Impulse!’s first four albums, released together.
