George Evans (singer)

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George Evans (b. George Louis Henry Evans, January 23, 1963, in Bloomington, Indiana). His parents are Dr. Robert K. Evans and Professor Lucile Villeneuve Evans, both long time faculty of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (CCM), Indiana University School of Music (opera department), and McGill University in Montréal. His sister, Julie D. Evans, is a respected architect formerly based in Chicago and now New York City.

George attended the Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts in music, theatre, voice and dance, and went on to study Musical Theater at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music before heading toward New York City. There during the 1980s, he furthered his skills while actively working in the field musical theater and making early appearances on stage in cabarets and clubs. Evans ultimately chose a career in the music industry, notably in jazz vocal performance and jazz broadcasting.

First surfacing as a soloist in the late-'80s in the cabarets of New York City ( Eighty-Eight's, Danny’s Skylight Room) George Evans went on to study and work in the fertile Montréal art and music scene of the '90s. There he gained notoriety as a vocalist, and respect as an authority on popular song. George became a fixture on Montréal radio (CKUT, K103) and for the better part of a decade, performed in the clubs before eventually venturing westward in 1999 toward Toronto and English Canada. Known nationally since the launch of his second disc, I'm All Smiles, George Evans has become one that country's most celebrated interpreters of standards and jazz.

Also a recognized music archivist, George has been tapped a total of eight times to select and sequence for Verve Records in the US, including much of The Diva Series, focusing on Verve’s best selling great ladies of song. . In 2004 he created the unusual Here Come The Boys: a Canadian Crooner Collection, and his fifth solo album Movie Songs, both for Maximum Jazz and Universal Music Canada. Then in 2006, he produced Bewitched, his sixth jazz vocal release for the Canadian and greater North American market, and his first with strings.

George Evans has been nominated Vocalist of the Year (2003), was twice nominated Male Vocalist of the Year (2007, 2008) in the Canadian National Jazz Awards, and has performed across Canada in the major festivals (The Vancouver International Jazz Festival, The Montreal International Jazz Festival, The Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival) as well as the top Canadian jazz clubs (The Top o’ the Senator in Toronto, The Montréal Bistro in Toronto, The Cellar in Vancouver, and Upstairs in Montréal to name but a few.) Despite a growing reputation in Canada, Evans continues to be active south of the border, appearing with regularity in New York City clubs and cabarets such as The Metropolitan Room in Manhattan. In 2008 he was nominated for a MAC Award for “best jazz duo or group” along with vocalist Mary Foster Conklin.

As a writer, George's column Vocalizing In Jazz was for several years a regular feature of Planet Jazz Magazine, a promising international publication. He currently resides in Toronto, Canada.

Contents

[edit] Artist Discography

  • Live At The Cellar (MSW-G029) [forthcoming]
  • One At A Time: the Ballad Collection 1996-2006 (MSW-D101) - 2007 [digital release]
  • Bewitched (MSW-G028) - 2006
  • Movie Songs (MAX-16352) - 2004
  • Here Come The Boys: a Canadian Crooner Collection (MAX-15602) - 2004
  • Eyes For You (MSW-G026) - 2002
  • From Moment To Moment (MSW-G025) - 2001
  • I'm All Smiles (MSW-G024) - 1999
  • Moodswing (MSW-G023) - 1997

[edit] Production Discography

  • Alex Pangman - Live in Montreal (Real Gone Gal) liner notes - 2005
  • Here Come The Boys: a Canadian Crooner Collection (MAX-15602) producer - 2004
  • Diva Series - Anita O'Day (Verve) selection and sequencing - 2003
  • Diva Series - Ella Fitzgerald (Verve) selection and sequencing - 2003
  • Diva Series - Astrud Gilberto (Verve) selection and sequencing - 2003
  • Diva Series - Billie Holiday (Verve) selection and sequencing - 2003
  • Diva Series - Dinah Washington (Verve) selection and sequencing - 2003
  • Diva Series - Sarah Vaughan (Verve) selection and sequencing - 2003
  • Diva Series - Carmen McRae (Verve) selection and sequencing - 2003
  • Buddy Greco - Talkin' Verve (Verve) selection and sequencing - 2001

[edit] CD Reviews

[edit] External links