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Peter Evans

eter Evans is a trumpet player and composer based in New York City since 2003. Evans is part of a broad, hybridized scene of musical experimentation and his work cuts across a wide range of modern musical practices and traditions. Peter is committed to the simultaneously self-determining and collaborative nature of musical improvisation as a compositional tool, and works with an ever-expanding group of musicians and composers in the creation of new music.

His primary groups as a leader are the Peter Evans Ensemble and Being & Becoming (with Joel Ross, Nick Jozwiak and Savannah Harris). Evans has been exploring solo trumpet music since 2002 and is widely recognized as a leading voice in the field, having released several recordings over the past decade. He is a member of the cooperative groups Pulverize the Sound (with Mike Pride and Tim Dahl) and Rocket Science (with Evan Parker, Craig Taborn and Sam Pluta) and is constantly experimenting and forming new configurations with like-minded players.

As a composer, he has been commissioned by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Wet Ink, Yarn/Wire, the Donaueschingen Musiktage Festival, the Jerome Foundation's Emerging Artist Program, and the Doris Duke Foundation. Evans has presented and/or performed his works at major festivals worldwide and tours his own groups extensively.

He has worked with some of the leading figures in contemporary music: John Zorn, Peter Broetzmann, Pauline Oliveros, Brian Ferneyhough, Kanye West, George Lewis, Anthony Braxton, Mary Halvorson, Ambrose Akinmusere, Weasel Walter, Ingrid Laubrock, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Tyshawn Sorey, Jim Black, Ikue Mori, Steve Schick, and performs with both the ICE and Wet Ink. As an interpreter of notated concert music Evans' has performed works by Varese, Xenakis, Bach, Stravinsky, Elliott Carter, Marcos Balter, Agusta Read Thomas, Roscoe Mitchell, and many more.

Peter Evans has been releasing recordings on his own label, More is More, since 2011. 2020 will see the debut recording from Being & Becoming, a new release from the Peter Evans Ensemble, and an album of Christmas music with three pianos.

Dave Liebman: Live at Smalls

Read "Live at Smalls" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
January 2, 2024

Tre ampi brani per un totale che supera di un po' i settanta minuti di musica tirata e vibrante, colta dal vivo nel gennaio 2022 al celebre jazz club newyorchese, compongono questo notevole nuovo lavoro di Dave Liebman, una delle presenze più significative (e incidenti) della scena jazzistica ormai da oltre quarant'anni. Il gruppo protagonista dell'incisione, del resto, è di prima grandezza, a partire dal pirotecnico (ma mai per miracol mostrare, come si suol dire) trombettista Peter Evans, che si ...

Album Review

Trance Map+: Etching the Ether

Read "Etching the Ether" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 28, 2023

"Trance Map+" is a collaborative project involving some incredibly talented musicians exploring the realms of avant-garde jazz and experimental sounds. Etching the Ether features three extended pieces, treated with Matthew Wright's live electronics and sound design. It is a production that embarks on a sonic journey, pushing the boundaries of improvisation and musical exploration.The album delves into intricate soundscapes, where each track is an evolving entity. The musicians known for their prowess in improvisation, create an enticing tapestry ...

Album Review

Evan Parker / Matthew Wright, Trance Map+ with Peter Evans and Mark Nauseef: Etching the Ether

Read "Etching the Ether" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
August 22, 2023

Humans have seemingly always feared new technologies. We're not even talking about AI and ChatGPT. When the first electric light bulb was invented, folks worried it would end civilization as they knew it. Artificial light certainly changed how late one stayed up at night. On the other hand, it also allowed people to find their keys after the sun had set. Any new technology can be either a master or a servant, a tool or a tyrant. The programmable drum ...

Album Review

Dave Liebman: Dave Liebman: Live at Smalls

Read "Dave Liebman: Live at Smalls" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
February 2, 2023

A brief, charged commencement by Dave Liebman and trumpeter Peter Evans (Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Mary Halvorson) launches Dave Liebman: Live at Smalls and from there the nocturne reaches out like a rhizome—laterally, vertically, horizontally—thriving into your consciousness, taking root, expanding . . . Free jazz is and will always be a fertile mind-field, an active landscape where veterans such as the quintet here at Smalls, post-plague, in a city pulled apart by fact and fiction, ...

Album Review

Cory Smythe: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Read "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
January 31, 2023

The startling molten sounds which open pianist Cory Smythe's Smoke Gets In Your Eyes signal that this will be no ordinary journey. On the first four cuts he draws on a stellar 11-strong squad which matches leading cutting edge figures such as saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, trumpeter Peter Evans and cellist Tomeka Reid, with colleagues from the International Contemporary Ensemble, hailed as America's foremost new-music group by The New Yorker, such as violinist Josh Modney and sadly deceased saxophonist Ryan Muncy, ...

Album Review

Peter Evans / Barry Guy: Syllogistic Moments

Read "Syllogistic Moments" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
December 24, 2018

From the first few seconds of the opening “Red Green" onwards, this live recording from trumpeter Peter Evans and bassist Barry Guy is a feat of death defying bravura. The two are among the most utterly distinctive practitioners on their instruments and they create a fast evolving kaleidoscope of preposterous sounds. Evans named his record label More Is More and that credo is amply reflected in the density of ideas which scroll past in swift succession. Both go way beyond ...

Album Review

Evans, Fernandez, Gustafsson: A Quietness of Water

Read "A Quietness of Water" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero

by Vincenzo Roggero
May 17, 2017

Tre fuoriclasse dell'improvvisazione più o meno radicale (qui molto radicale) in un incontro senza rete che l'assenza di batteria e contrabbasso rende ancora più rischioso e audace. Potremmo sintetizzare così A Quietness of Water album che conferma, se mai ce ne fosse bisogno, l'attenzione posta dalla polacca Not Two Records verso le musiche non convenzionali. Come potremmo parlare della tromba di Peter Evans che si espande oltre i limiti, si trasforma, si moltiplica; o del sax di Mats ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: Grégoire Maret & Alicia Olatuja, Peter Evans Septet, Steve Tyrell, Liberation Music Collective, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
April 13, 2017

It's a busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with an eclectic selection of visiting performers offering something for listeners with tastes ranging from vintage jazz to mainstream to experimental. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, April 12 Harmonica player Grégoire Maret, with singer and St. Louis native Alicia Olatuja as his featured guest, opens a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. One of a scant handful of headlining jazz performers on his ...
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Music Industry

Jazz this week: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Evan Parker & Peter Evans, Ronnie Burrage's RoBu Big Band, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
September 30, 2015

This week's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis is jam-packed, with three notable big band performances, two shows benefiting an ailing elder statesman of the local jazz scene, an evening of free-form music from two intriguing improvisors, and much, much more. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, September 30 The eclectic acoustic ensemble The 442s perform for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro, and pianist Greg Mills plays free improv and contemporary compositions ...
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Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Evan Parker and Peter Evans

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
September 26, 2015

Today, let's spend a few minutes with saxophonist Evan Parker and trumpeter Peter Evans, who will give a duo performance to kick off New Music Circle's 2015-16 season next Friday, October 2 at Joe's Cafe. (Both men also will take part in a free workshop/Q&A at 11 a.m. the next day (Saturday, October 3) at Foam.) Parker is a 71-year-old Englishman who began his career in the 1960s, at first briefly emulating the cool stylings of Paul Desmond and Lee ...
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Contest

Enter the "Mary Halvorson / Weasel Walter / Peter Evans - Mechanical Malfunction" Giveaway at All About Jazz!

Source: All About Jazz
December 2, 2012

All About Jazz members are invited to enter the Thirsty Ear Recordings “Mary Halvorson / Weasel Walter / Peter Evans - Mechanical Malfunction“ giveaway contest starting today. We'll select FIVE winners at the conclusion of the contest on January 1st. Click here to enter the contest (Becoming a fan of Mary Halvorson at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.) Good luck! Your Friends at Thirsty Ear Recordings About Mechanical Malfunction Following their critically acclaimed debut trio album, Electric Fruit, ...
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Recording

Peter Evans and Nate Wooley - High Society (Carrier Records, 2011) *****

Source: Free Jazz by Stef Gijssels
September 25, 2011

By Joe Higham Being a musician and playing a wide variety of music means that my family (kids and wife) are used to hearing wild sounds emanating from the hi-fi from time to time. But in certain cases I realise that maybe some music is not for wholesale consumption, and this .... is one of them! It's almost like a dream come true for a horn player (in this case trumpets) to be able to sound like Jimi Hendrix playing ...
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156

Recording

Peter Evans Quintet - Ghosts (More is More, 2011) *****

Source: Free Jazz by Stef Gijssels
May 6, 2011

By Joe Higham The quintet : Evans (trumpet), Carlos Homs (piano), Tom Blancarte (bass), Jim Black (drums), Sam Pluta doing live processing. What they do with the music is like going on a roller-coaster as you're tossed up in the air, whizzed around corners, spinning down and around. The quintet mixes bop and electronics in an compelling way, reminding me of the direction John Zorn took with his zapping music. Track 1 is a post bop type melody, but with ...
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181

Recording

Peter Evans Quintet, "Ghosts": Further Adventures in Chop-Bop Land

Source: Gapplegate Music Review by Grego Edwards
April 15, 2011

Peter Evans is headed somewhere. Have trumpet, will travel to a new netherland. It's been unfolding bit by bit for those who are following. His work in Mostly Others Do the Killing (more on that in a few days), his last Cleanfeed album as a leader (all this see below for reviews), and now this new one, Ghosts (More Is More III). It's a quintet with Evans, Carlos Homs, piano, Tom Blancarte, bass, Jim Black, drums (one of my new ...
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116

Recording

Weasel Walter, Mary Halvorson and Peter Evans - Electric Fruit (Thirsty Ear, 2011)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland
February 12, 2011

Three of the most adventurous musicians on the contemporary improvisation scene, drummer and percussionist Weasel Walter, guitarist Mary Halvorson and trumpeter Peter Evans combine for a fascinating album of collective improvisation that is entirely impossible to categorize (in a good way.) The song titles and the wonderful album artwork give a science fiction/steampunk air to the proceedings, opening with “Mangosteen 3000 A.D." that features splintered, fragmented trio improvisation and sputtering trumpet over strong guitar. Evans' strong brass takes command and ...
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165

Recording

Yes in My Backyard: Download Peter Evans' "Micro"

Source: Michael Ricci
December 3, 2009

Yes In My Backyard is a semiweekly column showcasing MP3s from new and emerging local talent. Queens trumpeter Peter Evans blats on the bleeding edge of out-jazz while also circling the fringes of noise-punk, sound design, and Rothko-like colors of pure tone. Although his music leans towards the dissonant and disorienting, Evans has a tender, forgiving touch with his instrument--a gentle love cry that towers over both the herky-jerky bluster of his quintet and the punkjazz splattercore of side-project Mostly ...
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Performance / Tour