It was great to see my good friend Lalo Schifrin at the Composer Expo. Lalo broke the panel formation to actually point me out in the audience. Hummie Mann and John Ottmann were there, and I spoke to them afterwards. A newer composer named Bear McCreary was also on panel.

I'll be at the Composer Expo on Saturday, again looking at the DVZ Strings from Audio Impressions. I'll be there representing The Composer Collective, with Matt Gates, VP. Look forward to seeing anyone there. - Evan

Click the title above to watch.

I was strolling around the web and came across this interview clip/montage, with me, which I completely do not remember doing, from 1998. It was from a classical commission by a company called TIMOTCA, for their exhibit "Art Beyond Borders". TIMOTCA is a sub-division of UNESCO which is the peace-keeping branch of the UNITED NATIONS.

Documentary film director, and long time friend Heather Goodwin, and I discuss the music for her latest Documentary "Laughing With Pigmies".

3 years after the completion of the score, not a day too soon, a CD of the complete original score to the serial killer suspense thriller "Hunting Humans", by Evan Evans, is available for fans and soundtrack lovers alike!

"Hunting Humans" SCORE CD

Best Score Nomination for "Hunting Humans"	11/1/2002
From the New York based B-Movie film awards, a prestigious award bestowed upon the best contributors to films made outside the official movie studio system.

"Indie Grammy" Award For Best Cover Design Year 2000	5/5/2001
The AFIM (American Federation of Independant Music) Award for Art Direction on "Bill Evans: Practice Tape No.1" for the CD releases in the year 2000.

Classical Commission From The United Nations	2/1/2000
"Freedom Of Expression", a five-part suite of tone poems, was commissioned by a subdivision of the United Nations, UNESCO. Five works: "Suppression", "Isolation", "Temptation", "Inspiration", "Freedom Of Expression". The works were of varying ensembe combinations, using such rare colors as Hammered Anvil, 2 Harps and 6 French Horns, Marimba among others.

ASCAP/Morton Gould Young Composers Award	1/1/1997
Honorable Mention, putting the submission of the piece "Elan Vital" in the top 1% of entries to the competition. Several years later Evan met up with a judge who was on that panel and said that he pushed for "Elan Vital" to be the grand prize but it was a close ruling. It was this judge's favorite in several years of the competition.

Telly Award 1996	1/1/1996
Best Original Music "Doctor" City Of Hope William Johnson Advertising Agency

Commercial Music 1992	1/1/1992
Top Student in Commercial Music C.V.H.S.

Most Valuable Player 1991	1/1/1991
M.V.P. Sophomore S.C.H.S.

Downbeat Magazine "Young Spotlight"	12/1/1990
Article on up and coming talent.

Disney Creativity Challenge Award	5/22/1989
Best Original Composition. Still the youngest winner to date of this award.

From the New York based B-Movie film awards, a prestigious award bestowed upon the best contributors to films made outside the official movie studio system.

Between Evan Evans and his wife Michele Evans, their respective recent films, "Hunting Humans" and "jane White is Sick & Twisted" have been nominated in just about every category possible at this years B-Movie Awards:
B-Movie Awards

Evan Evans' score to "Hunting Humans" is a wonderful psychological thriller score in the vein of Herrmann and Goldsmith. You can read a past review of the score here in the Evan Evans Official Website Archives at:
"Hunting Humans" Review

"Hard Luck", a film by and starring Jack Rubio and Kirk Harris among others, will be having a special screening at the Laemlle in Pasadena, California in participation with the rising METHOD FESTIVAL.

Kirk Harris and Jack Rubio are very big fans of Evans' music and hoped to have him score all their films, however due to complications on their last three they have been unable to achieve that. To launch the hope, Rubio and Harris recently acquired the rights to Evans' piece "Swamp Moss" and have strewn it throughout the film as a key role in the musical tapestry completely comprised of songs and source music.

Evans will not be able to attend, however, the filmmakers will be there as well as select cast and crew. This is a good opportunity to gauge how Evans music has impacted the film and meet some returning filmmakers making strides in Independant Cinema.

Screening is on Saturday June 16th, 2001 at 7:30pm
Laemlle Theatre in Pasadena
673 E. Colorado Boulevard

Reservations and tickets by phone (800) 965-4827

CLASSIC AND NEW
Evan Evans is a film composer known for his rich and complex scores recalling the prowess of Jerry Goldsmith("Basic Instinct","The Omen","Rambo","Total Recall") and the rebelliousness of Bernard Herrmann("Psycho","Vertigo","Citizen Kane","Taxi Driver"). Evans continues innovating new techniques for emotional communication through music, into the 21st century using polytonal soundscapes and orchestral color shapes that penetrate viscerally for even more dramatic effect than his predecessors. Evan, a child prodigy, has been scoring professionally since the age of 12. Now in his mid-thirties, he has over 20 years of experience, chalking up over 50 feature film scores, after working in the TV, Radio, and Commercial industries.

BACKGROUND
Evan studied music theory privately since age 6, and attended University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) at age 17. At the Nadia Boulanger Institute in Paris he shared pedagogy with Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, and Elliot Goldenthal. He apprenticed with groundbreaking Argentinian film composer Lalo Schifrin ("Mission Impossible") for over a year, veteran TV composer Don Ray ("Twilight Zone"), top-notch orchestrator Steven Scott Smalley ("Batman"), leading harmony specialist and arranger Clare Fischer (Michael Jackson), and music editor Joseph E. Rand ("Titanic").

BILL EVANS
He is the son of legendary Jazz artist Bill Evans. Bill Evans is known for re-inventing jazz in the 50s and 60s, bringing his conception of what's known today as "the cool sound" to Miles Davis on their collaborative seminal album "Kind Of Blue".

STAR POWER
Evan has worked on numerous star powered films, racking up credits starring Christina Ricci, Martin Sheen, Danny Trejo, David Carradine, Dennis Hopper, Tom Berenger, Norman Reedus, Jonathan Schaech, Michael Madsen, C. Thomas Howell, Wil Wheaton, Rebecca De Mornay, Eric Roberts, Robert Carradine, Judy Reyes, Adrian Paul, Michael Rooker, Udo Kier, John Ritter, Rachel Hunter, Judge Reinhold, Steven Bauer, Louis Mandylor, Billy Drago, Karen Black, Mark Rolston, John Saxon, and Robert Culp.

ARTISTIC SENSE
His award winning approaches have made rounds at some of the worlds most respected art film festivals, including The Sundance Film Festival.

THE COMPOSER COLLECTIVE
Evan is the CEO of The Composer Collective, where filmmakers have access to hundreds of the industries finest composers who collaborate together on a singular sounding score that far exceeds any individual's possible contribution. This pioneering process is dubbed TeamScore™.

Private Studies with Lalo Schifrin	January 1998 - March 1999
As the only apprentice to Lalo Schifrin he has ever taken under his wings. Studied complex Orchestration from the Kohler books, learned the mechanics of managing a film score, recording and spotting sessions, and communicating with directors and filmmakers. Mr. Schifrin additionally passed down some of his techniques of composition learned from the legendary Nadia Boulangier.

Nadia Boulangier Institute of Paris, France	January 1998 - March 1998
Systems of 20th Century Music and Composition.

Private Orchestration Studies with Steven Scott Smalley	1996 - 1999
Evans and Smalley hit it off right from the beginning, and it wasn't long before he was studying privately for a period of 3 years with Smalley as one of his rare apprentices. Mr. Smalley proudly considers Evans his prized student. Mr. Smalley's credits include "Batman", "Lonesome Dove (TV Miniseries)", "Conan: The Barbarian", "Robocop", "Mission: Impossible", "Judge Dredd", and just about every other massive sounding score that has come out of Hollywood in the last 30 years.

Jerry Goldsmith Seminar	April 27th, 1996
Informative intensive 8 hour lecture with legendary film composer Jerry Goldsmith.

UCLA Film Scoring Program	Q3 1995 - Q2 1996
UCLA Extension Film Scoring program taught by working veterans of the industry. Studied Orchestration, Conducting, 20th Century Music, Instrumentation and Composing to Picture.

Cal State Long Beach	Q3 1994 - Q2 1995
Experimental Music; Commercial Arranging; Electronic Composition; Pro Tools

Saddleback Junior College	Q3 1993 - Q2 1994
Electronic Composition; Composition; Music Theory

Private Studies of Music Theory	1983 - 1995
12 Years of intensive private studies of the theory of music and composition with Dr. Samuel Smith, advocate of the Arbin Trumpet Method.

"Future Murder"

Temporary Music Spotting Session Results

SCORES (Outcome vs. Projection / In Context):

Pet Cemetary (8.18 / 8.18)
Blood & Wine (7.50 / 7.50)
The Underneath (7.50 / 7.50)
Deep Rising (7.43 / 8.55)
Dr. Moreau (6.80 / 7.25)
Copycat (6.50 / 9.40)
The Professional (6.40 / 8.00)
The Thing (6.20 / 8.67)
Scream 1 & 2 (5.86 / 8.66)
Body Heat (5.63 / 8.75)
Congo (5.50 / 6.00)
Primal Fear (5.06 / 8.04)
Slingblade (4.25 / 8.50)
Pelican Brief (4.17 / 6.66)
Raising Cain (3.92 / 9.25)
Mad City (2.33 / 7.00)

SCENE
RATING, CD/Filmscore, Track No.

1m1 “Opening Credits”
8 Pet Cemetery #1
8 Dr. Moreau #12
1m2 “Lecture Dream”
- Deep Rising #7
8 Pet Cemetery #2
8 Scream #2
7 The Underneath #2
1m3 “Typing Dream”
• Deep Rising #7
8 Pet Cemetery #8
8 Scream #2
7 Pet Cemetery #14
6.5 The Underneath #2
6 Dr. Moreau #12
4 Primal Fear #7
1m5 “Operating Room Blackout” & “Explanation”
10 Pet Cemetery #2
9 The Underneath #11
8.5 Body Heat #10
8 Deep Rising #5

1m6 “Phone Call” & “Telling Story”
10 Deep Rising #5
9 Scream 2 #9
8 Pet Cemetery #17
For “Telling Story”

2m1 “Power Failure”
8 Copycat #16
6 Dr. Moreau #10
2m2 “Hypnotist”
10 Copycat #12
Used twice in a row
9 Pet Cemetery #8
9 The Thing #1
7 Dr. Moreau #6
Good structure
7 Primal Fear #5
2m3 “That Could Be Me In There”
7 The Underneath #5
6 Primal Fear #14
5 Congo #5

3m1 “Suspension”
10 Primal Fear #4
9 The Thing #5
8 Primal Fear #17
6 Dr. Moreau #8
3m2 “Café Break”
11 Deep Rising #2
Good playing through 3m2, 3m3, 3m4, 3m5
10 Dr. Moreau #8
9 Pet Cemetery #14
8 The Thing #3
8 The Underneath #2
6 Pet Cemetery #4
3m3 “‘I Hate You!’ Dream”
- Deep Rising #7
8 Deep Rising #1
8 Scream #2
6 Deep Rising #4
3m4 “Motivation”
3m5 “Searching”
8 Deep Rising #1
3m6 “Thorn’s Visit”
10 The Professional #16
6 Deep Rising #1

3m6a “Biding Time”
10 Primal Fear #5
7.5 Primal Fear #4
3m7 “Thorn In My Soup”
10 Deep Rising #2
10 Primal Fear #14
7 The Pelican Brief #1
5 The Pelican Brief #5

4m1 “911”
10 Copycat #14
7 Mad City #13
7 Pet Cemetery #22

4m2 “The Rookie”
NR Deep Rising #4
NR Rasing Cain #10
9 Scream #5
7 Congo #8
6 Primal Fear #11
5 The Professional #19
For the discussion before “The Rookie”
4m3 “Referral” & “Private-Investigator” & “Waiting/Pursuit”
NR Primal Fear #11
NR Primal Fear #12
NR Deep Rising #2
10 Copycat #10
9 Body Heat #9
8.5 Raising Cain #9
8 The Pelican Brief #5
4m4 “176 Pomar”
11 Primal Fear #19
7 Primal Fear #16
4m5 “Positive I.D.”
NR Primal Fear #10
NR Primal Fear #11
4m6 “Bridgitte’s Death”
9 Copycat #7
7.5 Deep Rising #2
4m7 “Apology”
10 Pet Cemetery #15
10 Primal Fear #20
4m8 “Redial”
10 The Professional #16

5m1 “BMW Stingers”
5m2 “Room 237”
10 Raising Cain #7
9 The Professional #16
5m3 “Stroll & Getaway”
5m4 “Grocery Suspense”
9.5 Deep Rising #2
5m5 “Relentless”
5m6 “Nightclub”
8 Dr. Moreau #9
5m7 “Last Chance”
8.5 Slingblade #1
7.5 Blood & Wine #20
7.5 The Underneath #8
7 Dr. Moreau #12

"Jane White Is Sick And Twisted" Comedy / Drama Directed by David Michael Latt Latt Productions	December 2001 Feature Film

"A Night At Sophie's" Romantic Comedy	December 2000 Motion Picture
Music Composed by Eric Hester.

"Secrets Of War" Drama Documedia Group	July 1998 Documentary
Orchestrated the "End Credits Overture" for full symphony orchestra. Recorded at O'Henry Studios, Hollywood, CA. Music Composed by Ramon Balcazar

"Violent Times" Action Adventure	December 1997 Motion Picture
Recorded at E3 Productions. Music Composed by Eric Hester.

"WPVI" Drama Tom Hadden Productions	August 1997 TV Series
Recorded by The London Sinfonia Music Composed by Tom Hadden and Dave Robidoux

"NFL Films" Action Drama National Football League Films	August 1997 Sports Shows
Recorded by The London Sinfonia

"Christmas In Cartoonland" Fantasy Hyperion Films	April 1997 Animated Movie
Recorded at E3 Productions. Music Composed By Megan Cavallari.

Honorable Mention, putting the submission of the piece "Elan Vital" in the top 1% of entries to the competition. Several years later Evan met up with a judge who was on that panel and said that he pushed for "Elan Vital" to be the grand prize but it was a close ruling. It was this judge's favorite in several years of the competition.

December 12, 1996

To: Evan Evans
From: Elliot & Shane
RE: “Coyote”
Fax: (213) 436-0321
Phone: (213) 478-1001


Evan,

All the Best,
Elliot & Shane

Best Original Music
"Doctor" City Of Hope
William Johnson Advertising Agency

[Los Angeles Times Archives]

Friday, April 9, 1993
Orange County Edition
Section: Calendar
Page: F-24

PLAYING HOMAGE; DAVID BENOIT PLANS TO OPEN HIS COACH HOUSE SHOW WITH A SONG BILL EVANS COMPOSED FOR HIS OWN SON EVAN EVANS;

By BILL KOHLHAASE
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

It's natural for David Benoit, a keyboardist known for his expressionistic ways, to play the music of Bill Evans, the late pianist revered for his own expressive, deeply revealing style. Benoit, who appears at the Coach House tonight, says he'll open the concert with the title tune from his latest album, "Letter to Evan."

The tune, written by Evans a year before his death in 1980 from a bleeding ulcer and pneumonia, was addressed to his then 4-year-old son. Though Evans performed the piece in concert, he never recorded it.

It's a particularly serendipitous tale of how Benoit came by it while developing a friendship with Evan, now 17 and a student at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, and his mother, Nenette Evans, who live in Laguna Niguel. "Evan came in with his mother to see my show at the Coach House when he was 14, and we talked and made this connection and became friends," Benoit explained in a phone conversation earlier this week from his home in Palos Verdes.

"Pretty soon, Nenette started sending me manuscripts that (Bill) had written in his own hand, and 'Letter To Evan' was one of them," he said. "So I started having fun with it and asked her if I could record it."

Nenette Evans, speaking by phone from her home, said the sheet music penned by her husband gave directions to her son to listen and study the music at least once each year after his 12th birthday.

"It was a message, a will, a passing on of ideas with a hidden message inside the song. Something would be revealed to (Evan) through the study of the song. You'd have to have known Bill to understand the complexity of that. . . . There was some kind of secret inheritance in the song that comes through in the music itself. But I don't know what it meant."

Evan Evans, in a phone conversation from New Orleans where he was spending spring break with family friends, says he isn't sure that he's deciphered whatever message the tune may contain.

"It would be interesting for me to really analyze it some time, but if there's any message, I haven't found it yet. There were also some words written to the tune, so if there is any message, it wouldn't really be hidden."

His mother thinks that Evan, a classically trained trumpet player who has been composing since he was 11 and already has a handful of scoring credits, has gotten meaning from the music. "In a way, it's been sad for me, watching him go into music like his father. But Evan has a great mind, and he'll make a definite contribution."

Benoit says he, too, benefited from studying the senior Evans' work.

"I was turned on to him later in life, around 21. I was living in Hollywood at the time and just got really excited about his music. It's like Miles Davis in terms of trumpet players: Everybody has a different experience with Bill Evans," he said. "Mine feels so personal, especially now that I know Evan and the whole family.

"This most recent album captures a bit of what Bill Evans meant to me. I've been getting more and more into the deeper aspects of his playing, the way he shaped notes and brought certain notes out by giving them a little more authority. The deeper I get into his playing, the more I realize how little I sound like him."

The album also includes Evans' "Knit for Mary F.," as well as Dave Brubeck's "Kathy's Waltz," a number pulled from Brubeck's now-classic "Time Out" album.

"I wanted to do his 'Blue Rondo a la Turk,' " Benoit said. "But I didn't for two reasons: First, a lot of people have covered it. Second, I would have had to practice to get it where I wanted it to be before I recorded it." Benoit says his piano solo on "Kathy's Waltz" is a transcription of Brubeck's solo on the original recording.

The "Letter to Evan" disc also includes evidence of Benoit's growing interest in classical music. Examples can be heard on his version of Dave Grusin's "On Golden Pond," in which cello and flute play important roles, and Benoit's classically paced style on his own "Waiting for Love."

The pianist, who's been refining a new direction, says he renewed his classical studies two years ago and has even taken conducting lessons.

"Instead of going to a more be-bop or hard-bop or traditional style, I'm actually trying to find a new thing mixing elements of classical music and traditional elements with other influences, Brazilian and world beat. And I'm going to explore that direction more.

"I think we've just run out of breathing space with synthesizers and fusion. I think a lot of people are feeling like, hey, we've got to go somewhere else now. We've been pounding the pavement with this kind of music for five or six years. Let's try something different."

Benoit, whose first studio assignment found him playing piano for Robert Altman's 1975 film "Nashville" (that's Benoit playing honky-tonk behind the closing credits) is now musical director for the new ABC-TV series "Sirens."

In addition to his solo work, Benoit has recently completed a fusion project with guitarist Russ Freeman and will tour Asia later this spring with an all-star band that includes guitarist Larry Carlton.

For the Coach House concert, Benoit will concentrate on material from "Letter to Evan" in the company of drummer David Anderson, bassist Dave Enos, guitarist Peter Sprague and Orange County-bred saxophonist Eric Marienthal.

"Eric's always our first choice here, being a local boy," Benoit said.

And, yes, Evan Evans says he'll be home from New Orleans in time to catch the show.

* David Benoit plays tonight at 7 and 9:30 p.m., at the Coach House,
33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. $19.50. (714) 496-8930.

PHOTO: David Benoit says, "This most recent album captures a bit of what Bill Evans meant to me."
PHOTOGRAPHER: RANDY LEFFINGWELL / Los Angeles Times
Type of Material: PROFILE

Top Student in Commercial Music
C.V.H.S.

M.V.P. Sophomore
S.C.H.S.