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| Orrin Evans |
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Orrin Evans
Orrin
Evans “The clear-cut best pianist of his time…” is how Hot House
Magazine described Orrin Evans in 1998, praise that was echoed again in
the summer of 2002. This remarkable talent was nurtured in a household
filled with music due to the efforts of his mother, a classical singer
who surrounded the youngster with everything from the melodies of
Puccini to the pulsating rhythms of Basie and Ellington. He learned
from what he learned which is still the case today when he acknowledges
such musicians as Trudy Pitts, Tim Warfield, Kenny Barron, Ralph
Peterson, Jr., Edgar Bateman, Mickey Roker and Booby Durham as
inspirational guides. His formal study was at Philadelphia ’s
prestigious Settlement School of Music under Charles Pettaway.
The
New York Times described the pianist as “….a poised artist with an
impressive template of ideas at his command,” a quality undoubtedly
recognized by the legendary saxophonist Bobby Watson who engaged Evans
for a number of live performances. Orrin has also held the piano chair
for the Mingus Big Band for the past several years. He has toured with
such diverse talents as the evolutionary Pharoah Sanders, Wallace
Roney, Stefon Harris, Roy Hargrove, Antonio Hart, and rappers Common
and Mos Def, just to name a few.
For
Orrin Evans, however, the greatest joy is playing with his own band,
which at different times has included such notables as the
aforementioned Ralph Peterson, Jr., Sam Newsom Ralph Bowen, Nasheet
Waits, Reid Anderson, JD Allen and Duane Eubanks.
Evans
spent three years as a teacher at the coveted Germantown Friends School
where he taught middle school music and conducted three jazz ensembles.
He has returned to Settlement Music School to teach individual piano
lessons, theory lessons and an advanced jazz ensemble. He continues to
be a musical commentator, conducting workshops, clinics and master
classes both in the United States and abroad, while continuing to
record and tour with his own bands.
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