Induction: 2021
Website: Gil Evans
Gil Evans (By Ryan Truesdell)
Feb. 15, 2021
Bob Brookmeyer once shared with me the admiration and envy he felt for the G minor triad that begins Gil Evans’ arrangement of “Blues for Pablo” on Miles Ahead. Bob marveled over Gil’s ability to make a simple triad sound mysterious and airy, while somehow infinitely more complex than just three pitches. Bob was determined to recreate this sound in one of his own charts and even tried to copy this triad exactly, but every experiment failed at reproducing the sound Gil had achieved. In the end, Bob said, “I realized that was Gil’s G minor triad. It belongs to him and him alone.”
When I was in college, I attempted to transcribe Gil’s remarkable arrangement of “Barbara Song” from the Individualism album. I spent hours listening to just a few seconds of the chart over and over again, trying to hear every note, intent on getting my transcription exactly as Gil had originally written it. Once I was convinced I had it right, I would allow a little time to pass, then revisit the section with fresh ears. Much to my chagrin, each time, the sounds presented themselves in a completely new way; a new pitch that I’d swear wasn’t there before, or a new instrument that had magically appeared out of the ether. After almost a year of trying to perfect my transcription, I eventually gave up, concluding that the only possible solution was that Gil possessed an elusive, magical “13th note” that only he knew how to manipulate.
Gil Evans was one of the most extraordinary, singular voices to emerge from the lineage of jazz composers and arrangers since Duke Ellington. Each time his pencil met paper, he built the song at hand a new sonic world to reside in, crafted with architectural precision, yet given enough freedom for the song to breathe and evolve organically. In this new world, a familiar melody would take on its own persona, shedding all prior affiliations and truly becoming the property of Gil, exemplifying the very definition of re-composition.
Gil’s endless search for, and fascination with, new orchestral sounds began with his time with the Claude Thornhill Orchestra and continued throughout his entire career. His explorations in orchestration showed us that the French horn, tuba, and bassoon were just as welcome in a jazz ensemble as saxophones, trombones, and trumpets. His pursuit of harmonic innovation demonstrated how the minor second in Gil’s hands could become the gateway to a melancholic universe of infinite possibilities. His collaborations with Miles Davis – The Birth of the Cool, Miles Ahead, Porgy & Bess, and Sketches of Spain – redefined modern jazz composition and arranging, and have become the ideal to which most large jazz ensemble composers aspire. Gil seamlessly fused impressionistic and 20th century classical, world, folk, and jazz styles into a shared, symbiotic musical language that will forever be synonymous with his name.
I have never encountered another composer who truly took possession of sound, wielding notes on the page as masterfully as Gil. No matter how hard we try to emulate or decipher the intricacies of Gil’s music, we are always left with one aspect that is unexplainable in traditional theory terms. The reason that particular G minor triad sounds different than ever before is because of Gil Evans; he is the mystical “13th note.” The world of jazz composition and arranging has been forever changed by his contributions to the artform, and his body of work continues to inspire and influence contemporary composers/arrangers to discover their own compositional voice; their own “13th note.” For that, we are all grateful, and we honor Gil with his rightful place among the masters inducted to the ISJAC Hall of Fame.
Ryan Truesdell is a GRAMMY® Award-winning producer, composer, and arranger, best known for his award-winning Gil Evans Project.