Mom and Dad wanted to make him a tenor, his teachers a prose actor: but in the end it was jazz which conquered his talents and valued his wide and cultured musical vision. In him and his quartet of virtuosi one hears a striking recording debut.
It is a bit unorthodox to anticipate judgment: yet we are incapable of overstating our surprise upon hearing this recording that, as one learns from the liner notes, was not supposed to be a typical studio session. Born as a live project, 2 Sets maintained the completely frank and unconstrained approach of four musicians toward a repertoire from the most eclectic and demanding that one can interpret in a jazz key. This young Chicago musician embodies class and sensitivity and reunites himself with the blasé elegance of a Mel Torme", the lyricism of a Jeff Buckley, and the velvet timbre of a less corny and easy-going Michael Buble".
In Steve Evans we may have found a new star.