Bill Evans - one of the most influential jazz pianists of the 20th century - died 40 years ago on September 15, 1980. He was a style-setter for an entire generation of musicians, including the Roland Batik Trio, which brought a Bill Evans songbook to concert stages in 2020 with "Remembering Bill."

Influenced by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, Bill Evans brought a very soulful and lyrical timbre to jazz. In his piano trios he made bass and drums equal partners. His trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian was legendary. Bill Evans gave many jazz standards their own characteristics through his playing, so that they are often wrongly attributed to him. Besides his compositions like "Waltz for Debby" or "Time Remembered", numbers like "My foolish Heart" and "Gloria's Step" have to be mentioned here.

The Roland Batik Trio - consisting of Roland Batik (piano), Heinrich Werkl (double bass) and Walter Grassmann (drums) also belongs to those jazz trios that cultivate chamber music jazz and have perfected it through their decades of playing together.

Their program "Remembering Bill" is therefore not only a tribute in memory of the legendary Bill Evans, but on this evening they wander in their own musical footsteps. Numbers by Bill Evans' companions such as Scott LaFaro and their own compositions by Roland Batik and Heinrich Werkl round off an exciting jazz evening.