Orrin Evans

Orrin Evans works as a jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader whose command spans hard bop, post-bop, neo-soul, and R&B. Beyond his own projects as a leader, he maintains an active schedule as a first-call sideman and shows particular skill when supporting vocalists. Following an apprenticeship in multiple ensembles, he established the Black Entertainment imprint in 1995 to issue his initial leader recording, The Trio. He joined the Criss Cross roster in 1996 and explored varied formats, beginning with the 1997 quintet session Justin Time before presenting the widely praised octet date Captain Black the next year. Two further quintet efforts, Grown Folk Bizness and Listen to the Band, appeared in 1999. Several years with Imani yielded projects such as Luvpark in 2003 and the self-titled Tarbaby debut in 2006. In 2010 he delivered three separate Posi-Tone releases: Tarbaby’s The End of Fear, a live Captain Black Big Band album, and the quintet recording Freedom. Although Tarbaby and the Captain Black Big Band sustained activity with shifting personnel, Evans also continued issuing material under his own name, including the 2013 trio album …It Was Beauty and the live quintet set Liberation Blues, his first for Smoke Sessions. In 2018 he succeeded Ethan Iverson in the Bad Plus, resulting in the all-original Never Stop II and the 2019 follow-up Activate Infinity. He exited the group in spring 2021 and issued The Magic of Now that July.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Evans grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother, a classical opera singer, provided his earliest musical exposure and he started piano lessons during childhood. The city’s rich environment allowed informal study with figures such as Trudy Pitts, Shirley Scott, and Mickey Roker. He completed the Girard Academic Music Program and entered the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in 1993, where his teachers included Kenny Barron, Joanne Brackeen, Ralph Bowen, and Ted Dunbar.

Upon arriving in New York, Evans joined the cohort of Young Lions focused on straight-ahead jazz, with particular emphasis on hard bop. Initial sideman work came with saxophonist Bobby Watson and drummer Ralph Peterson, as well as in groups led by Duane Eubanks and vocalist Lenora Zenzalai-Helm. In 1995 he launched Black Entertainment to release his debut leader date, The Trio, featuring bassist Matthew Parrish and drummer Byron Landham. Although the trio performed frequent club engagements, Evans remained occupied with sideman commitments that limited extensive touring.

He signed with Criss Cross in late 1996 and recorded his label debut Justin Time the following year, fronting an octet that included Landham, trumpeter John Swana, tenor saxophonist Tim Warfield, and bassist Rodney Whitaker. The album received favorable critical attention. Captain Black, an octet project issued in 1998, retained Warfield and Whitaker while adding saxophonists Sam Newsome, Antonio Hart, and Ralph Bowen, bassist Avishai Cohen, and mentor Peterson on drums. Grown Folk Bizness in 1999 reduced the ensemble by omitting Warfield, Cohen, and Hart. Listen to the Band followed in 2000 and featured drummer Nasheet Waits alongside longtime associate bassist Reid Anderson. Evans opened the decade with the new band Seed, which released a self-titled Imani album, the quartet date Blessed Ones with Eric Revis on bass, and the mixed-personnel recording Meant to Shine. The personnel on the latter, which again included Revis, Bowen, and Newsome, highlighted Evans’ reliance on longstanding personal and professional associations; many of the same musicians appear across his discography in continually shifting configurations, and he remains a first-call sideman for a wide range of leaders.

In 2003 Evans assembled Luvpark and released its self-titled Imani debut. The group included Bowen and drummer Donald Edwards, with guest vocals from his wife Dawn Warren-Evans and J.D. Walter. The next year he recorded Live at Widener University with a quartet comprising Anderson, Waits, Newsome, and saxophonist J.D. Allen. After issuing Easy Now for Criss Cross, Evans formed the modernist ensemble Tarbaby. Its 2006 self-titled debut reunited Allen, Revis, and Waits while introducing saxophonist Stacy Dillard. Tarbaby maintained an intensive touring schedule, with Evans adjusting personnel to accommodate individual availability. Faith in Action, his first Posi-Tone album, appeared in 2006 and featured bassist Luques Curtis. A reconstituted Tarbaby delivered The End of Fear in 2010, adding trumpeter Nicholas Payton and saxophonist Oliver Lake to Allen, Waits, and Revis; the widely acclaimed release demonstrated Evans’ skill at unifying stylistically diverse players. That same year saw a live self-titled Captain Black Big Band recording, while 2011’s Freedom presented a quintet that welcomed the return of drummer Byron Landham. The 2012 trio date Flip the Script stood among Evans’ relatively infrequent small-group offerings. Additional 2012 sideman appearances included Conrad Herwig’s A Voice Through the Door and Wayne Escoffery’s The Only Son of One. He returned to Criss Cross for It Was Beauty, recorded with drummer Donald Edwards and several alternating bassists. Tarbaby followed with Ballad of Sam Langford, which placed Ambrose Akinmusire in the trumpet chair, and the live RogueArt release Fanon, captured two years earlier and featuring guitarist Marc Ducret.

Evans joined the Smoke Sessions roster in 2014. His label debut, Liberation Blues, included Curtis on bass and Bill Stewart on drums, with guest contributions from Allen and trumpeter Sean Jones, whose recordings regularly feature Evans. That year he also appeared on Edwards’ Evolution of an Influenced Mind and vocalist Michelle Lordi’s debut Drive. The Captain Black Big Band closed the year with Mother’s Touch.

The 2015 album The Evolution of Oneself held special significance: it marked Evans’ first studio collaboration with bassist Christian McBride, a fellow Philadelphian, and Detroit drummer Karriem Riggins. Although the three had shared an apartment during Evans’ early New York years and had performed together occasionally, the session represented their initial joint recording. The eighteen-track collection mixed original material and standards, among them an interpretation of Grover Washington, Jr.’s “A Secret Place,” and featured guest guitarist Marvin Sewell on several tracks. Additional 2015 sideman work included Warfield’s Spherical: Dedicated to Thelonious Sphere Monk and vocalist Joanna Pascale’s fourth album Wildflower. The following year Evans released #knowingishalfthebattle, which featured alternating guitarists Kurt Rosenwinkel and Kevin Eubanks, Mark Whitfield, Jr. on drums, and Curtis on bass. Captain Black Big Band’s Presence also appeared, and Evans contributed to recordings by Eubanks, Josh Lawrence, and Jones.

In 2018 the Bad Plus announced Ethan Iverson’s departure and introduced Evans for Never Stop II, an album consisting entirely of original compositions, as had its 2010 predecessor. Evans toured extensively with the trio in 2019 and released the Captain Black Big Band album The Intangible Between. Edition Records issued Activate Infinity in October to widespread critical praise. Evans’ time with the Bad Plus proved brief; he announced his departure in spring 2021. That July he returned with The Magic of Now on Smoke Sessions, leading a quartet that included Stewart on drums, bassist Vicente Archer, and twenty-three-year-old alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins.