For more than two decades, pianist/composer Orrin Evans has made an art form of the unexpected. Releasing more than 25 albums without the support of a major label, Evans has become the model of a fiercely independent artist who’s made a habit of rattling the jazz world’s confining cages. That determination has paid off in accolades like topping the “Rising Star Pianist” category in the 2018 DownBeat Critics Poll. His wide-ranging projects span mutable small group settings and the raucous Captain Black Big Band, (nominated for a Grammy in 2019 and again in 2021), the nerve-rattling collective trio Tarbaby and the latest twist in his never predictable story, becoming the first new member of The Bad Plus in the trio’s nearly 20-year history. Evans has collaborated with a who’s-who of modern jazz including Nicholas Payton, Sean Jones, Oliver Lake, JD Allen, Christian McBride, Eric Revis, Buster Williams, Karriem Riggins, Nasheet Waits, Kevin Eubanks and Kurt Rosenwinkel, among countless others. - Shaun Brady