Award-winning pianist, composer, and singer Larry McDonough brings legendary pianist and composer Bill Evans back to life in a solo show covering the music and personal life of Bill Evans that has filled rooms in California and Minnesota. The show includes piano and voice, spoken word, and commentary on the life of Bill Evans.
McDonough uses social media extensively and receive good coverage by conventional media. He brings good crowds to venues.
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Evans performed on the Miles Davis album "Kind of Blue" in 1959, the best-selling jazz album ever. His trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian introduced simultaneous improvisation and is regarded as a seminal modern jazz trio. He received 31 Grammy nominations and seven awards, and was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame.
Larry McDonough is an award-winning St. Paul jazz composer, pianist, singer, and teacher, performing around the world and recording with his group the Larry McDonough Quartet as well as solo, and in duos and trios. McDonough will celebrate the musical life of Bill Evans through performances of Evans' compositions and arrangements spanning his career, including those on McDonough’s CD “Kind of Bill on the Palace Grounds, Marking 40 Years since the Death of Bill Evans,” and the jazz poetry of award-winning poet Richard Terrill.
Nenette Evans said: "The Evans family is so grateful that Larry McDonough has chosen to remember my late husband Bill Evans."
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Larry McDonough and Bill Evans
Bill Evans was born William John Evans on August 16, 1929, and was one of the most influential jazz pianists in history. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, complex rhythms, and simultaneous improvisation of group members redefined groups, composition, and jazz pianists. He performed on the Miles Davis album “Kind of Blue” in 1959, the best-selling jazz album ever. His trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian introduced simultaneous improvisation and is regarded as a seminal modern jazz trio. In 1963, Evans recorded Conversations with Myself, a solo album produced with over-dubbing technology allowing him to perform with himself. He later collaborated with the singer Tony Bennett on two critically acclaimed albums: The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album (1975) and Together Again (1977). His last trio included bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera. Evans died on September 15, 1980 at age 51 in New York City. He received 31 Grammy nominations and seven awards, and was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame.
Larry grew up listening and transcribing Evans’ music, having seen his live performances in the 1970s. His shows and recordings feature the music of Evans. Larry has become friends with Evans’ widow Nenette, who supports Larry’s projects and provides him with some of Bill Evans’ manuscripts. Larry is the only Minnesotan invited to study the Bill Evans Archive at the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies of Southeastern Louisiana University. Movie director Bruce Spiegel chose Larry to host Minnesota showings of his documentary film “Bill Evans Time Remembered.” Jazz curator Steve Kenny has called Larry the Bill Evans scholar of Minnesota.
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Video and Audio
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Video:
○Very Early by Bill Evans from Conversations with Bill Evans
○All Across the City by Jim Hall from Intermodulating Undercurrents Live at the Kos: The Music of Bill Evans and Jim Hall (piano and guitar)
●Audio
○Alice In Wonderland by Sammy Fain from Alice in Stonehenge and other AcoustElectric Adventures (quartet)
○You Must Believe in Spring by Michel Legrand, Marilyn Bergman, Alan Bergman, and Jacques Demy from Alice in Stonehenge and other AcoustElectric Adventures (voice and quartet)
○All of You by Cole Porter from Kind of Bill, Marking 40 Years since the Death of Bill Evans (quartet)
○Stella by Starlight by Victor Young from Kind of Bill, Marking 40 Years since the Death of Bill Evans (quartet)
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Reviews
“The Evans family is so grateful that Larry McDonough has chosen to remember my late husband Bill Evans. I like what Max Gordon said about Bill Evans in his book concerning his experiences as owner of the famed Village Vanguard club, where Bill eventually became a regular: ‘The first time Bill Evans played the Village Vanguard, he was the intermission pianist for the Modern Jazz Quartet. The room was quiet when they played. When Bill Evans played the MJQ fans wondered, ‘Who the hell was that?' They'd never heard of him. He was filling space in between for the star attraction. Today Bill is the star attraction. When Bill Evans plays, the Village Vanguard becomes Town Hall.’”
Nenette Evans
Widow of Bill Evans and Executor of the Bill Evans Estate
“I had never heard of Larry McDonough Jazz before learning a few days ago about his show at Martuni’s. It turns out that he’s visiting from Minnesota. When I saw his event notice on Facebook, I honestly couldn’t believe that there would be a show about Bill Evans—if I could choose one jazz musician to have a show about, it would be him. I only discovered his music when the Covid quarantine began, but since then he’s become my favorite person to listen to. Some people say his piano music is sad. I find it keeps me in good company! Larry loves sharing his love of the music. He also introduces each song. He gave the backstory for key moments in Bill’s artistic life.”
Robert Estes
San Francisco
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Larry McDonough Recordings
Reviews
Articles
Radio
Videos
Streaming
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Larry McDonough
Larry McDonough is an award-winning St. Paul jazz composer, pianist, singer, and teacher, performing around the world and recording with his group the Larry McDonough Quartet as well as solo, and in duos and trios. He has performed with legendary saxophonist and composer Benny Golson, Trombonist Fred Wesley, and trumpeter Duane Eubanks, as well as a who’s who of local jazz artists, and was inducted into the Minnesota Rock Country Hall of Fame for his work in the group Danny’s Reasons. His awards include the American Composers Forum Showcase Award for the composition “Strait of Gibraltar.” He has released twelve CDs and DVDs as a leader. His current CDs are “Best of the Aster Classic Jazz Series” and “Intermodulating Undercurrents Live at the Kos: The Music of Bill Evans and Jim Hall.” “Kind of Bill on the Palace Grounds, Marking 40 Years since the Death of Bill Evans,” was played on jazz radio stations and streaming services around the country. The two-CD set “Alice in Stonehenge and other AcoustElectric Adventures” has played on radio stations and streaming services around the world and charted #18 on the Roots Music Report’s Top 50 Jazz Album Chart. “Simple Gifts” reached number 29 on the CMJ Jazz Chart and also has been played on hundreds of stations around the country and throughout the world. His other jazz projects include Fusebox (original jazz fusion trio) and Trios Trio (classic jazz). When not playing jazz, he performs jam fusion in Quantum Mechanics, funk in Funkin’ Right, classic rock in Whiskey Burn, indie-rock in HiFi, Steely Dan covers in Steely Ann, and punk in Saint Small.
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Contact
Larry McDonough
Larry McDonough Jazz
651-398-8053
mcdon056@umn.edu
http://larrymcdonoughjazz.homestead.com
https://www.facebook.com/LarryMcDonoughJazz/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKz_nYdKTNUPhIGk44jCb_Q
