Jazz Arranger Gil Evans Dies

Jazz arranger Gil Evans, who collaborated with trumpeter Miles Davis in a series of stunning jazz performances, died Sunday in Mexico, his wife said today. Evans, 75, died of peritonitis in Cuernavaca, where he went to recuperate after surgery.

It was in Davis’ “Birth of the Cool” band in 1949 and 1950 that Evans tried out his new musical ideas and jazz concepts. He was the first person to introduce such unorthodox instruments as the French horn and tuba into big-band jazz arrangements.