Born in Trenton, New Jersey, and raised in Philadelphia, Evans studied with NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron at Rutgers and learned in the city’s sink-or-swim jam sessions. He made his first album at 21 and spent a decade playing Charles Mingus’s music in the Mingus Big Band. He is known for bringing every collaborator into “The Village,” his extended community of musicians, fans, and elders.

His best-known ensemble, the Captain Black Big Band, has earned three Grammy nominations, most recently for Walk a Mile in My Shoe (Imani Records, 2024). He is also part of the collective trio Tarbaby, leads a working trio, and was named the top “Rising Star Pianist” in the 2018 DownBeat Critics Poll. He teaches jazz piano at Rutgers.