The John Horler Trio - ‘Celebrating Bill Evans’
Pizza Express, Dean Street
14 June 2026

John Horler Trio: John Horler, piano; Tim Wells, bass; Ronnie Jones, drums

‘John’s playing with fire in his soul,’ attested one member of the audience as John Horler brought his magical touch to the Pizza Express, Dean Street on Sunday 14 June. Aided and abetted by the sublime bass playing of Tim Wells and Ronnie Jones’ swinging, light-as-a-feather drumming, Horler paid tribute to the enduring influence of Bill Evans while reaffirming his own stature as a musician of international class.

A tantalising interpretation of ‘Re Person I Knew’ (as John pointed out, a ‘not-quite anagrammatic’ title drawn from the name of Evans’ Riverside Records producer Orin Keepnews) opened a programme to relish, balanced perfectly in terms of familiarity, pace, light and shade.

One can never tire of listening to the gentle charm of ‘Waltz for Debbie’ or ‘Very Early’, or the aching beauty of ‘My Foolish Heart’, its emotional force reinforced by the resonance of the magnificent Steinway piano; Horler’s impeccable timing was positively seductive.

In complete contrast one can enjoy being blown away by the thrilling ‘full throttle’ challenge of ‘Funkallero’, a number Evans recorded with Stan Getz, which even lifted Ronnie Jones’ volume to ‘Notch 11’, or the time-switching machinations of ’34 Skidoo’.

While remaining faithful to the influence of Bill Evans, Horler very much brought his own perceptions and personal warmth to this intimate lunchtime session, instantly communicating his love and admiration for the ‘poet of jazz’, interspersing the brilliance of the music with his often-hilarious tales of how Bill Evans has affected his life and career.

No portrait of Bill Evans would be complete without ‘Blue in Green’, his monumental contribution to Miles Davis’s classic ‘Kind of Blue’ album which reshaped jazz after its release in 1959. A seamless transition into ‘Gloria’s Tune’ sustained the mood of timeless tranquillity; a device Horler used again to wonderful effect later in the programme with ‘Peace Piece’ and ‘Some Other Time’.

The palpable feeling of empathy and understanding between the musicians was one of the many highlights of this Pizza Express session. However even the ears of Messrs Wells and Jones were put to the test when Horler launched into a dramatic, ‘Spanish-tinged’ wave of free-expression which gradually assumed shape in the form of ‘Nardis’, often credited to Miles Davis, but undoubtedly an Evans’ composition, which brought the concert to a climactic conclusion.

The audience enthusiastically responded to Horler’s invitation to ‘wave your hands, stamp your feet and shout for more!’ and were duly rewarded by a beautiful interpretation of Jimmy Rowles’ composition ‘The Peacocks’.

John Horler’s ‘Portrait of Bill Evans’ succeeded brilliantly in celebrating the music and enduring influence of one of jazz’s most innovative musicians who died at the tragically early age of fifty-one on 15 September 1980. It introduced a new generation of listeners to the riches of his legacy and also served as a timely reminder, if I may borrow some words from Joe Harriott’s epitaph, that ‘there’s them over here can play a few aces too.’

Horler enhanced the distinct feel and mood of the original tunes with seamless transitions from ‘Blue in Green’ into ‘Gloria’s Tune’ and ‘Some Other Time’ from ‘Peace Piece’. Wonderful!

TREVOR BANNISTER