ジャズ界のレジェンドたちは、即興演奏のフレーズや音使いで、唯一無二の存在となりました。ここでは、彼らの演奏ではなく、普段話していたカンバセーションの中で、どのような英単語やフレーズを使っていたかに焦点を当てます。
ビル・エヴァンスの英語
Bill Evans (interviewed in 1980)
Narrator: Our conversation covered a vast number of subjects: his fight with drug addiction almost 20 years ago; Miles Davis; the Bill Evans Trio; and Manhattan; his reasons for not living there. He keeps two homes: a house in New Hampshire, and an apartment in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Surprisingly, because of its importance of the world of Jazz, Manhattan is the place to live was something he gave up a long ago.
Evans: When I really needed that intense presence and involvement, I lived in New York, in the heart of New York. But I think now it’s not so necessary. Although I like New York because it helps keep me competitive and keeps my feet on the ground and when you want to establish yourself in jazz, New York is the place. It’s extremely competitive but it’s extremely honest. You feel like if you make it here you gain a lot of confidence, and you also establish yourself where else you may go. Then, it was even more important. Now I feel like just survive in the vives in the city, I don’t know what it is, the audiences, the fact that there are so much happening in the city that, you know, you don’t get a full perspective. You can be anything you want. You can be a complete degenerate. You can be completely conservative. You can be prowler. You can be traditional. You can be anything. And you find the society here that you can move in there where you can be like you are. So, in a way, it makes you confine to yourself because you soon find where you are truly located. It just like, you know, I’ve often heard the myth like dope destroys character. And in my opinion, it just reveals, you know, what was always there. A person is given that kind of freedom to move and gravitate toward their real selves. And unless they choose to deal with it, and manipulate, and guide themselves on to a constructive path, if they have destructive side, and it’ll go that way. It’s a good testing ground in every way.
The thing is that my destructive side took its toll more, kind of, in an exterior way, you know, physically or some bad habits or whatever. But I think a lot of people might appear to live constructive exterior life, and just to, you know, decaying, you know, festering on the inside. On the inside I feel like I’ve maintained rather constructive, clean, you know, uncorrupted, kind of, character or whatever. I was encouraging and respect when I was in Japan recently, instead of Gideon Bibles, they had of Buddha text in their hotels, and there was their English translation. And Buddha seems to emphasize not to worry about the flesh so much, you know, but to worry about the spirit. And in essence I feel I’ve lived constructive life. And I see a great deal of emphasis in society on the flesh, clean to life, even sometimes the whole health food thing and everything, to me, it gets a little sickening in that respect. In that it’s like, you know, we will not live forever anyhow, it’s good to make the most of certainly while we are here. Then I can certainly agree with. But the idea of clinging to life and physical has gotten to a point where, I think, a lot of the other values and emphasis.
Narrator: His hanging in there paid off. Evans managed to get a recording contract with Riverside Records. But his general appeal was somewhat limited. Fortunately, more and more musicians were becoming aware of him. And as a result, a big payoff arrived – it came in the form of black trumpet player Miles Davis.
Evans: As far as I know, I might have met him some place I think in Composer one night somebody said Miles wanted to meet Bill Evans which was, you know, just want to how-do-you-do-thing. He didn’t say anything — that was it. So, one day the phone rang, and Miles was on the phone, asked me to make a weekend in Philadelphia
Narrator: Naturally, Evens was thrilled by the offer. And when he made the weekend in Philly, Miles asked him to stay with the band. In all of this is somewhat baffling – Miles Davis was one of the most outspoken black racists in North America. Why would he ask Bill Evans, a white pianist, to join?
Evans: The black community took great pride in that they are all black in Miles Davis band, and Miles himself would almost say I’m a racist and you know… in other words, he talks like a racist, and when it comes down to the music he makes his choices you know on another level. It was a challenge to deal with the situation and there was a lot of silent treatment from the audience almost throughout the tunnel with Miles. And there were, you know, occasionally demonstrations of antagonism, hostility and so on, you know. But for one reason or another I was able to handle all of that.
