Throughout his 20-year career as a solo artist, saxophonist Bill Evans has explored a variety of musical settings that go well beyond the confines of traditional jazz, including hip-hop, fusion, reggae, Brazilian and slamming funk. Evans steps into more adventurous territory on Soulgrass, blending jazz, funk and bluegrass into a seamless and wholly unique hybrid of quintessentially American styles.

Born on February 9, 1958 in Clarendon Hills, Illinois, Evans started on piano before switching to tenor sax in high school. After one year of studying music at North Texs State Univeristy he transferred to William Patterson College in New Jersey in 1978 and also began private studies with sax great and former Miles Davis sideman, Dave Liebman. Through Liebman’s recommendation, he was tapped by Miles in 1980 to play a key role in Miles’ celebrated comeback band. Bill became Miles’ right-hand man and soloistic foil in concert and on a series of recordings -- 1981’s The Man With The Horn, 1982’s We Want Miles, 1983’s Star People and 1984’s Decoy. After leaving Davis’ band in 1984, Evans joined John McLaughlin in a reconstituted edition of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, appearing on 1985’s Mahavishnu and 1987’s Aventures in Radioland. He also toured and recorded through the 80s with the band Elements (with keyboardist Cliff Carter, bassist Mark Egan and drummer Danny Gottlieb) and through the ‘90s with Petite Blonde (an all-star fusion band he formed which was comprised of bassist Victor Bailey, drummer Dennis Chambers, guitarist Chuck Loeb and Evans on tenor and soprano saxes) and also with former Police guitarist Andy Summers. More recently, Evans has toured Europe and the States with the Soulbop band, which he co-leads with trumpeter Randy Brecker.

Bill’s solo debut came in 1984 with Living in the Crest of a Wave and he followed up in 1985 with Alternative Man . In the early ‘90s, he was one of the first to blend hip-hop and jazz in a musical way on a triumverate of recordings -- 1993’s Push, 1994’s Live in Europe and 1995’s Escape. He followed those groundbreaking recordings with 1997’s Starfish & The Moon, 1999’s Touch and 2001’s Grammy nominated Soul Insider, which featured a guest appearance by soul-jazz legend Les McCann. Bill followed that success with 2003’s groove-oriented Big Fun, which featured a cameo spot by country star Willie Nelson. In 2005, BHM Records released the exhilarating Soul Bop Band “Live”, which captured the all-star group fronted by Evans and Randy Brecker and featuring drummer Steve Smith, guitarist Hiram Bullock, bassist Victor Bailey and pianist Dave Kikoski in full stride during a whirlwind summer tour last year. His daring collaboration with Bela Fleck and Nashville session aces Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan and Jerry Douglas on Soulgrass is Bill's latest exploration in an ever-evolving career.