Bill Evans was, arguably, the most important jazz pianist of the 20th century.

Born in 1930, he died in 1980, but in those 50 years he produced a distinctive and prolific body of original compositions and recorded performances and changed the way pianists approach their instrument and their craft.

For Canadian audiences, it is sometimes helpful to mention him in connection with Glenn Gould. Gould was born two years after Evans and died two years after him.

Both loved music and excelled at playing it, had a long history of physical and mental problems, and reportedly admired each other’s work. Gould referred to Evans on one occasion as “the Scriabin of Jazz” — and Evans actually used Gould’s beloved Steinway for recording the famous album Conversations with Myself.

Many classical music fans find Evans’ recorded performances quite acceptable, even exciting.

His fluid technique, his perfect touch producing the famous “crystal clear” pianistic tone, his use of lush harmonies reminiscent of composers of the Romantic and Impressionistic periods, and his beautiful, melodic improvisations all contribute to the overall assessment that he was truly a great musician.

Last year my colleagues (Laurent Boucher, Diane Bessell and Ian Van Wyck) and I presented a concert featuring Evans’ compositions exclusively. The concert was aptly named the “Bill Evans Project” as it reflected my own study of Bill’s work that really began in February 1960 when, quite by accident, I first heard Bill Evans play with his trio at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco. His inimitable sound immediately became embedded in my head (and heart). But it wasn’t until 2007 when I was recovering from a back operation that I finally took the time to study his life, his compositions and his vast discography, and seriously begin to incorporate my findings into my own playing.

Our 2008 Salt Spring concert, sponsored by the Salt Spring Jazz & Blues Society, actually had two parts: first, performances of 14 of his most interesting compositions, and second, a narrative on his life and his contribution to the use of the piano in jazz music.

Thankfully, the concert was well attended and enthusiastically received — so much so that the Jazz & Blues Society asked us to do another.

This year in Part II we will play a few of his compositions, but the focus will be on “the songs Bill played,” including jazz standards, like Herbie Hancock’s Dolphin Dance and Jimmy Rowles’ hauntingly beautiful Peacocks and selections from the American Songbook like Cole Porter’s All of You and Jerome Kern’s Up With the Lark. We will also perform a few “tribute songs” written after Bill’s death, such as my own composition, Waltz for Bill.

People sometimes ask why I have devoted so much time to studying Bill Evans and his work and my response usually is “because his compositions and his playing were so beautiful and because there is so much to learn from him.”

These concerts are a way of sharing this beauty with our friends.

The Bill Evans Project: Part II: The Songs He Played is set for Sunday, Oct. 25, 3 to 5 p.m. at All Saints By-the-Sea.

Tickets are available from the ArtSpring ticket centre at 250-537-2102. Adults cost $20 and students are $5.