Sue Evans (born July 7, 1951) is an American jazz, pop, classical, and studio percussionist and drummer.

Career

She was born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States. Evans played piano, violin and clarinet as a young child before switching to drums. She studied under Warren Smith and

Sonny Igoe Owen Joseph "Sonny" Igoe (October 8, 1923 – March 28, 2012) was an American jazz drummer and music educator who, toured with the orchestras of Tommy Reed (1913–2012), Les Elgart, Ina Ray Hutton, Benny Goodman, and Woody Herman from the mid- ...

, and graduated in 1969 from

The High School of Music & Art The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art" (or "M&A"), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High ...

. Later, Evans earned a BA in Music from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

, as well as a Master of Music and Doctorate from the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most ...

. Evans soon became one of the top recording percussionists in New York, recording jingles, movie scores, and numerous albums with many jazz, folk and pop artists. She was

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ...

's touring drummer from 1969 to 1973 and worked with

Gil Evans Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans ( né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian–American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz, playing an important role ...

from 1969 to 1982. In the 1970s, she worked with

Steve Kuhn Steve Kuhn (born March 24, 1938) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and educator. Biography Kuhn was born in New York City, New York, to Carl and Stella Kuhn (née Kaufman), and was raised in Newton, Massachusetts. Hi ...

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, doubl ...

Bobby Jones Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a const ...

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...

, Urbie Green and

Roswell Rudd Roswell Hopkins Rudd Jr. (November 17, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American jazz trombonist and composer. Although skilled in a variety of genres of jazz (including Dixieland, which he performed while in college), and other genres of musi ...

Jazz Composers Orchestra The Jazz Composer's Orchestra was an American jazz group, founded by Carla Bley and Michael Mantler in 1965, to perform orchestral avant-garde jazz. Its origins lay in the Jazz Composers Guild, an organization founded by Bill Dixon which grew out ...

, in addition to playing with The New York Pops, the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

, the

Brooklyn Philharmonic There have been several organisations referred to as the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The most recent one was the now-defunct Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, an American orchestra based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in existence fr ...

and the

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra The New Jersey Symphony, formerly the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, is an American symphony orchestra based in the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Symphony is the state orchestra of New Jersey, performing classical subscription concert serie ...

. In the 1980s, she worked with Michael Franks,

Mark Murphy (singer) Mark Howe Murphy (March 14, 1932 – October 22, 2015) was an American jazz singer based at various times in New York City, Los Angeles, London, and San Francisco. He recorded 51 albums under his own name during his lifetime and was principally ...

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans almost 40 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s, releasing four singles that entered th ...

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his bir ...

, and

Morgana King Maria Grazia Morgana Messina (June 4, 1930 – March 22, 2018), known as Morgana King, was an American jazz singer and actress.Liner notes by Joel Dorn – Morgana King album ''The Complete Reprise Recordings'' (2000).Liner notes by Ed Osborne � ...

. Other associations include touring or recording with

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

, Sting,

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

, James Brown,

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the ''Moder ...

Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura Ny ...

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...

, Peter, Paul, and Mary,

Don Sebesky Don Sebesky (born December 10, 1937) is an American arranger, jazz trombonist, and keyboardist. Biography Sebesky trained in trombone at the Manhattan School of Music; in his early career, he played with Kai Winding, Claude Thornhill, Tommy ...

, Sadao Watanabe,

Hubert Laws Hubert Laws (born November 10, 1939) is an American flutist and saxophonist with a career spanning over 40 years in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Laws is one of the few classical artists who has also mastered jazz, pop, and rhyth ...

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on N ...

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophone, alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental Pop music, pop and R&B. He released his first solo ...

and

Terence Blanchard Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American trumpeter and composer. He started his career in 1982 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then The Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed ...

. She also played at the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

s for several years, as well as the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

s. Evans won

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy A ...

Most Valuable Awards in 1984, 1987 and 1989.

Gil Evans

In the notes for the 1988 CD reissue of ''The Gil Evans Orchestra plays the music of Jimi Hendrix'', she wrote:

I started playing with Gil when I was about 17 or 18. I had been studying with Warren for five years or so. Gil used to go up to Warren's studio to rehearse, and our paths crossed often. Sometimes when Warren was out of town, Gil would be there playing the piano and I'd go up there to practise and we started practising together. At that point I didn't even know how great he was. So I wasn't intimidated and I was able to just sit and practise with him for hours. If that had happened years later, I would have tried to second-guess what he wanted. Then Gil started getting ready to do an album and asked me to join the band. Not only was it my first record date, it was Gil Evans, and
Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebra ...
was there! Every time I get interviewed about being a woman musician... well, looking back, it's like I had blinders on. I probably didn't even know how to spell the word discrimination. I just plowed ahead like I was drunk or something. Gil was there, in my life, and I just thought, "Why not?" Everyone thought Gil was my father for the 8 or 10 years I played with him, and in a sense he was. I was growing up in that band. He kind of found something in me that I didn't know was there and we explored it together. And that's how he was with the whole band.

Discography

With

*'' Good King Bad'' (CTI, 1975) With

*'' Living'' (1971) With

*''

Something You Got ''Something You Got'' is an album by American flugelhornist Art Farmer featuring performances with Yusef Lateef and the David Matthews Big Band recorded in 1977 and released on the CTI label.Payne, DCTI Records discographyaccessed February 27, 2 ...

'' (CTI, 1977) With

Grant Green Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Recording prolifically for Blue Note Records as both leader and sideman, Green performed in the hard bop, soul jazz, bebop, and Latin-tinged idioms ...

*'' The Main Attraction'' (Kudu, 1976) With Urbie Green *'' The Fox'' (CTI, 1976) *'' Señor Blues'' (CTI, 1977) With

*'' Where Flamingos Fly'' (Artists House, 1971) *'' The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix'' (RCA, 1974) *'' There Comes a Time'' (RCA, 1976) *''

Priestess A priestess is a female priest, a woman having the authority or power to administer religious rites. Priestess may also refer to: * ''Priestess'' (album), an album by Gil Evans * Priestess (band), a Canadian hard rock band * Priestess (rapper), ...

'' (Antilles, 1977) *'' Gil Evans Live at the Royal Festival Hall London 1978'' (RCA, 1978) With

*''

Trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

'' (ECM, 1974) With

Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America. Although Lateef's main instruments ...

*''

Autophysiopsychic ''Autophysiopsychic'' is an album by American multi-instrumentalist and composer Yusef Lateef recorded in 1977 and released on the CTI label.Payne, DCTI Records discographyaccessed February 27, 2012 The record was recorded in October 1977 at Ele ...

'' (CTI, 1977) With

Idris Muhammad Idris Muhammad ( ar, إدريس محمد; born Leo Morris; November 13, 1939 – July 29, 2014) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He had an extensive career performing jazz, funk, R&B, and soul music and recorded with musicians suc ...

*''

Turn This Mutha Out ''Turn This Mutha Out'' is a 1977 album by Idris Muhammad. Produced and arranged by CTI/Kudu staff arranger David Matthews, it was aimed more at the R&B/dance market than the jazz market. One of only a few Kudu albums not produced by label own ...

'' (Kudu, 1977) With

Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical eleme ...

*''

Black Widow Black widow may refer to: Spiders * Black widow spider, a common name for some species of spiders in the genus ''Latrodectus'' American species * ''Latrodectus apicalis'', the Galapagos black widow * ''Latrodectus curacaviensis'', the South Amer ...

'' (CTI, 1976) With

Jeremy Steig Jeremy Steig (September 23, 1942 – April 13, 2016)Peter Keepnews, "Jeremy ...

*''

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

'' (CTI, 1977)

References

;Footnotes ;General references *Ron Wynn, Sue Evansat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Sue 1951 births Living people American jazz drummers Musicians from New York (state) American rock drummers American session musicians American women drummers American jazz percussionists The High School of Music & Art alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Juilliard School alumni 20th-century American drummers Jazz musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American women musicians 21st-century American women