Orrin Evans

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American jazz pianist

title: "Orrin Evans" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1976-births", "living-people", "american-jazz-pianists", "american-male-jazz-pianists", "criss-cross-jazz-artists", "palmetto-records-artists", "pew-fellows-in-the-arts", "posi-tone-records-artists", "mingus-big-band-members", "musicians-from-trenton,-new-jersey", "the-bad-plus-members", "rogueart-artists", "smoke-sessions-records-artists"] description: "American jazz pianist" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orrin_Evans" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American jazz pianist ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist "]

Field	Value
name	Orrin Evans
image	Orrin Evans.jpg
caption	Evans in 2008
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
origin	Trenton, New Jersey, United States
birth_date
instrument	Piano
genre	Jazz
occupation	Musician
label	Criss Cross, Posi-Tone, Palmetto, Smoke Sessions, RogueArt
website
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Orrin Evans (born 28 March 1975) is an American jazz pianist. Evans was born in Trenton, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia. He attended Rutgers University, and then studied with Kenny Barron. He worked as a sideman for Bobby Watson, Ralph Peterson, Duane Eubanks, and Lenora Zenzalai-Helm, and released his debut as a leader in 1994. He signed with Criss Cross Jazz in 1997, recording prolifically with the label. He was awarded a 2010 Pew Fellowships in the Arts.

In 2017, Evans was named the new pianist in The Bad Plus replacing Ethan Iverson. He departed amicably in 2021 to focus on leading his own ensemble.

Evans is married to vocalist Dawn Warren Evans, who is also his manager.

Discography

As leader

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Year recorded	Title	Label	Personnel/Notes
1995	The Trio	Black Entertainment	With Matthew Parrish (bass), Byron Landham (drums); reissued in 2001 as Deja Vu on Imani
1996	Justin Time	Criss Cross	With John Swana (trumpet), Tim Warfield (tenor sax), Rodney Whitaker (bass), Byron Landham (drums)
1997–98	Captain Black	Criss Cross	With Sam Newsome (soprano sax), Antonio Hart (alto sax), Ralph Bowen (tenor sax, soprano sax, alto sax), Tim Warfield (tenor sax), Avishai Cohen (bass), Rodney Whitaker (bass), Ralph Peterson (drums)
1998	Grown Folk Bizness	Criss Cross	With Sam Newsome (soprano sax), Ralph Bowen (tenor sax, alto sax), Rodney Whitaker (bass), Ralph Peterson (drums)
1999	Listen to the Band	Criss Cross	With Duane Eubanks (trumpet), Sam Newsome (soprano sax), Ralph Bowen (tenor sax, alto sax), Reid Anderson (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums)
2000?	Seed	Imani	As Seed, with Mike Boone (bass), Rodney Green (Drums), and Dawn Warren (Vocals)
2001	Blessed Ones	Criss Cross	With Eric Revis (bass), Nasheet Waits and Edgar Bateman (drums)
2002	Meant to Shine	Palmetto	With Eric Revis (bass), Gene Jackson (drums); some tracks with Sam Newsome (soprano sax) added; some tracks with Ralph Bowen (tenor sax, bass clarinet, flute, soprano sax) added
2003	Luvpark	Imani	As Luvpark; with Ralph Bowen (sax), Donald Edwards (drums), J. D. Walter and Dawn Warren (vocals)
2004	Live At Widener University	Imani	As The Band, with J. D. Allen (tenor sax), Sam Newsome (soprano sax), Reid Anderson (bass), and Nasheet Waits (drums)
2004	Easy Now	Criss Cross	With Ralph Bowen (soprano sax, alto sax), Mike Boone and Eric Revis (bass), Byron Landham and Rodney Green (drums)
2006?	The Trio – Live in Jackson, Mississippi	Imani	Trio, with Madison Rast (bass), Byron Landham (drums); in concert
2006	Tarbaby	Imani	As Tarbaby; with Stacy Dillard and J. D. Allen (tenor sax), Eric Revis (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums)
2009	Faith in Action	Posi-Tone	With Luques Curtis (bass), Nasheet Waits, Rocky Bryant and Gene Jackson (drums)
2010?	The End of Fear	Posi-Tone	As Tarbaby; with J. D. Allen (tenor sax), Oliver Lake (alto sax), Nicholas Payton (trumpet), Eric Revis (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums )
2010	Captain Black Big Band	Posi-Tone	As Captain Black Big Band; in concert
2010	Freedom	Posi-Tone	With Larry McKenna (tenor sax), Dwayne Burno (bass), Byron Landham (drums, percussion), Anwar Marshall (drums)
2011?	Ballad of Sam Langford	Hipnotic	As Tarbaby; with Oliver Lake (sax), Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet), Eric Revis (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums)
2011	Fanon	RogueArt	As Tarbaby; with Oliver Lake (alto sax), Marc Ducret (guitar), Eric Revis (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums)
2011	Mother's Touch	Posi-Tone	As Captain Black Big Band
2012	Flip the Script	Posi-Tone	With Eric Revis, Ben Wolfe, Alex Claffy and Luques Curtis (bass), Donald Edwards (drums)
2013	...It Was Beauty	Criss Cross	With Eric Revis (bass), Donald Edwards (drums)
2014	Liberation Blues	Smoke Sessions	With Sean Jones, J. D. Allen, Luques Curtis (bass), Bill Stewart (drums); in concert
2014	The Evolution of Oneself	Smoke Sessions	With Christian McBride (bass), Karriem Riggins (drums); two tracks with Marvin Sewell (guitar) added; one track with J. D. Walter (vocals) added
2016	#knowingishalfthebattle	Smoke Sessions	Some tracks trio, with Luques Curtis (bass), Mark Whitfield Jr. (drums); Kurt Rosenwinkel and Kevin Eubanks (guitar), Caleb Wheeler Curtis (sax and flute), M'Balia Singley (vocals) are added on some tracks
2016	Presence	Smoke Sessions	With the Captain Black Big Band; Troy Roberts (tenor sax), Caleb Wheeler Curtis and Todd Bashore (alto sax), John Raymond, Josh Lawrence and Bryan Davids (trumpet), David Gibson, Stafford Hunter and Brent White (trombone), Madison Rast (bass), Anwar Marshall and Jason Brown (drums)
2019	The Intangible Between	Smoke Sessions	With the Captain Black Big Band; Troy Roberts (tenor sax), Stacy Dillard (tenor and soprano sax), Immanuel Wilkins (alto and soprano sax), Todd Bashore (flute and alto sax), Caleb Wheeler Curtis (alto sax), Sean Jones, Josh Lawrence and Thomas Marriott (trumpet), David Gibson, Stafford Hunter and Reggie Watkins (trombone), Dylan Reis, Eric Revis, Luques Curtis and Madison Rast (bass), Mark Whitfield Jr., Anwar Marshall and Jason Brown (drums)
2021	The Magic Of Now	Smoke Sessions	With Vicente Archer (bass), Bill Stewart (drums), Immanuel Wilkins (alto sax)
2023	The Red Door	Smoke Sessions	Nicholas Payton (trumpet), Wallace Roney (trumpet), Gary Thomas (tenor sax & flute), Larry McKenna (tenor sax), Robert Hurst (bass), Buster Williams (bass), Marvin "Smitty" Smith (drums), Gene Jackson (drums)
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References

[ Orrin Evans] at Allmusic

References

Stark, Karl. (1999-12-02). "Young Jazz Pianist, Musical Iconoclast Orrin Evans Is A Hometown Success Story.". Articles.Philly.com.
Lutz, Phillip. "Orrin Evans The Instigator." ''Downbeat'' 81.11 (2014): 42-45. Print.
[http://www.pcah.us/the-center/blog/labels/tag/pew-fellows/ "Orrin Evans: Music: 2010 Grantee,"]{{Dead link. (August 2025)
(10 April 2017). "The Bad Plus Has Big News: Some Subtraction, Some Addition, for a Whole New Sum".
Russonello, Giovanni. "Orrin Evans Has Been Playing Jazz for Years. So Why Is He a Rising Star?". The New York Times.
[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/arts/music/pop-and-jazz-listings-and-albums-for-the-fall-season.html "Pop and Jazz Listings and Albums for the Fall Season"]. ''The New York Times'', September 7, 2015

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