To Bill Evans

Preface

How did “ To Bill Evans” occurred? In mid-70’s, while I was attending the conservatory for my musical education, my elder brother’s friend Ali Arif Ersen was a jazz fan. He introduced me to jazz music by giving me albums , mostly LP’s and cassette tape, that were easy to listen to and enabled me to appreciate it. How could I have known that one of those albums would influence me so deeply and make such a large impact on my life? That album was “Since We Met” by Bill Evans. It was the first time I had listened to Bill Evans and I was totally enchanted by his touch, his harmony and his swing. I started collecting Bill Evans albums since that day and now I have 89 of them. Sincerely, I feel an emptiness if I don’t listen to his music every day. Bill Evans is my mentor and idol who showed me the way to my dreams and imagination. I had the opportunity to work with Alan Broabent for my previous album, Therapy. We recorded the album with London Philharmonia Orchestra in 2010 and during the recordings, I told him about my plans for “To Bill Evans” and asked him if he would write the large orchestration of my compositions. Bill Evans had worked with legendary arranger and composer, Claus Ogerman for three of his albums. These large orchestra albums have moved me deeply. Listening to and performing with large orchestras that consist of strings and horns always made me very happy.

Alan Broadbent is a wonderful pianist who has worked with Charlie Haden, Shirley Horn, Diana Krall, Scott Hamilton, Marian McPartland. He has arranged for many different musicians for different recordings. I convinced Alan to work together of this album by giving him the scores of my compositions over baklava and Turkish coffee in New York. He quickly started sending me the arrangements of the pieces over email and even listening to them in the computerized-format was very exciting for me. Art my house, we got together with Kağan and Ferit and we started rehearsing with “large orchestra” by connecting the computer to the sound system. Meanwhile, we set the dates for the recording with Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and the studios. Alan flew to Istanbul for a series of concerts of Therapy. After four concerts which got us warmed up for the album , we departed for Prague for the recording of To Bill Evans. On March 12, 201 , we spent the full day with the orchestra and finished the recording for it. All the pieces of the album flourished with their own spirit and aura. On the side, Alan showed me how to better use the pedal while playing.

Loyka Production team under Batu Akyol’s direction was also present at the recording studio. They prepared a documentary for the album as well as two videos for different pieces.

Just a short summary of how “To Bill Evans” project came true !

#	Title	Dur.
1	Abacco	08:06
2	Faith	05:59
3	Baroness	05:00
4	Serenity	07:05
5	To Bill Evans	06:30
6	Mastic Pudding	05:53
7	Warm Autumn	08:35

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Credits

All music composed by Kerem Görsev
Arranged & conducted by Alan Broadbent
Alan Broadbent (played solo piano part for To Bill Evans)
Kağan Yıldız doublebass (except 5 & 7)
Ferit Odman drums (except 5 & 7)