Biography
Memphis served as both the birthplace and the site of death for pianist Evans Bradshaw, though his career placed him firmly within Detroit’s jazz circles. Despite the refined sound of his name, Evans Bradshaw has stayed largely unfamiliar to most jazz audiences. He launched his professional work while still a child and lived only into his mid-fifties. A boyhood companion of the exceptional pianist Phineas Newborn, Bradshaw may have first drawn Newborn toward the keyboard. The moment he could crawl, his initial impulse was to scale the piano bench; at nine he began lessons, and by twelve he was already a member of his father’s band.
In 1953 he moved to Flint, Michigan, securing daytime work inside an auto plant. After hours he led his own trio on local jobs. One night a talent scout heard the group and set up a contract with Riverside. The label issued two albums under Bradshaw’s name in 1958 and 1959; those releases constitute his entire discography. No recordings exist of Bradshaw working as a sideman. Buoyed by the Riverside exposure, his trio performed at the Village Vanguard and the Detroit Jazz Festival.
In 1953 he moved to Flint, Michigan, securing daytime work inside an auto plant. After hours he led his own trio on local jobs. One night a talent scout heard the group and set up a contract with Riverside. The label issued two albums under Bradshaw’s name in 1958 and 1959; those releases constitute his entire discography. No recordings exist of Bradshaw working as a sideman. Buoyed by the Riverside exposure, his trio performed at the Village Vanguard and the Detroit Jazz Festival.