Bill Evans - Everything Happens to Me: A Musical Biography (Book) [Paperback]

Keith Shadwick (Author), Bill Evans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2002

A Grammy winner and pioneer of multi-track jazz recording, Bill Evans was the pianist on Miles Davis' classic Kind of Blue album and a key figure in the development of modern jazz piano. This new Backbeat book details his wide-ranging and absorbing career, from freelance work in the 1950s, through his groundbreaking trios and solo releases, to his relationships with various record labels, to the intense final phase before his death in 1980. Printed on top-quality stock, the book includes fantastic full-page photos throughout, and a special color section.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Backbeat Books (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879307080
• ISBN-13: 978-0879307080
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #758,826 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Musical Biography?? In what way?, April 3, 2004

By 

Petri Krzywacki (Helsinki, Finland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bill Evans - Everything Happens to Me: A Musical Biography (Book) (Paperback)

I also prefer How My Heart Sings over this one -I'm a huge Evans fan and as a jazz musician, I was thrilled about finding a "musical biography". Well, just repeating the same old stories as all the other books on the subject and then throwing in comments about the recordings -some of them suspiciously harsh, even- does not make it any more musical than any other biography. Not only that, but the times he comments on the actual music, he is almost invariably mistaken and wrong; "Freddie Freeloader" in NOT in a minor key and "These Things Called Changes" is based on "What Is This Thing Called Love", not "All The Things You Are" as Shadwick suggests. If he ever really studied the Manne-Hole live recordings instead of undeservedly dismissing them, he would know that Evans was already using the very same changes. As a collector of everything about Mr.Evans, I had to get this but I would not recommend it to anyone. Two stars for the subject alone.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sorry--Not much happening here., April 7, 2002

By 

Jim Williams (Franklin (Indianapolis), IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bill Evans - Everything Happens to Me: A Musical Biography (Book) (Paperback)

I hate to be negative, but:
*This book adds nothing to the body of knowledge about BE and contains a number of factual errors, not the least of which is a
misspelling of Nenette's last name pre-Evans. How checkable is that? Some tunes (and--I think--keys; I'll have to check) are mis-identified as part of the attempt at musical analysis. Such glaring and very checkable errors tend to make me wonder about the quality of the rest of the content.
According to the author, this book was prepared at the same time as Pettinger's was. Given that, it doesn't surprise that this book is unfulfilling and unrevealing after Pettinger (which still leaves us wondering about BE the person).
If your budget is limited, get Pettinger's book and Hanns Petrik's (if you can read German). I'll keep this book since I am somewhat of a "completist," but I'd sell it used if the subject were anyone else.
Meanwhile, we should all hope that Gene Lees decides to write the definitive book on BE. I had some brief correspondence with him many years ago (not that I'm close to him--we simply share a mutual musical associate and friend) on this and other topics. As BE fans, our hope should be that the passage of time has softened or removed some of the factors that were leading him not to do it.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad At All!, July 6, 2004

By 

"yawuh2002" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bill Evans - Everything Happens to Me: A Musical Biography (Book) (Paperback)

I'm only writing this to bump up the book's rating a bit and to offer a more positive opinion that the reader might take into consideration. You might assume from some of the reviews here that this is the worst jazz bio ever written, and it's definitely not the case. Shadwick is a fine writer, and his understanding of Evans' work is not in doubt. Sure, there are liner note excerpts quoted in the text, but find me a jazz book that doesn't call on liner essays, among other references. For the most part, Shadwick concentrates on the actual recordings themselves, and in this way, it truly is a "musical biography," tracing Evans' developments over the years as they are heard on record. At best, Shadwick's subjective descriptions/criticisms can offer even the hardened Evans fan (like me) insights into the music, and for the newcomer, it's a handy guide to what he/she can expect to hear. Not only are most of Evans' records examined, but most of the key tracks are discussed in descriptive detail, making for a fairly comprehensive overview.

The negativity of some of the preceding reviews here is so uncalled for as to be suspicious to me, as if some of these reviewers are just shilling for the "other" Evans bio, How My Heart Sings, and trying to keep sales of this one down. I've read some garbage jazz books before, and this isn't one of them. It isn't one of the best either, but the author does not deserve to be trashed for this labor of love. (Better written, I must add, than some more popular jazz bios, which I won't bother to mention.)