Bill Evans: The Last Waltz

UNLESS YOU'RE hardline avant-garde (in which case, you'll vote for Cecil Taylor), Bill Evans (1929-1980) is the greatest jazz pianist of the post-bebop era. Classically trained, he brought a unique harmonic refinement, not to mention a beautiful keyboard touch, to jazz. As always first to spot new possibilities, Miles Davis planned his 1959 classic Kind Of Blue around Evans' playing (indeed, Evans claimed authorship of 'Blue In Green', while many critics consider him responsible for the album's most sophisticated design, 'Flamenco Sketches').