The magic in the music of Gil Evans (1912–1988) lies in the details: his use of harmony, his unique ap­proach to orchestration and instrumentation, and his singularly detailed rhythmic and nota­tional struc­ture. After years of painstaking research, and with the full support of the Evans family, Ryan Truesdell and the Gil Evans Project have made it possible to play Gil’s music in its purest form, di­rectly from his manu­scripts. The Gil Evans Project has won its namesake a posthumous GRAMMY Award for Best Instru­mental Arrange­ment with its recording of “How About You,” from the ArtistShare album Centennial; and a second GRAMMY nomination for the 2016 album Lines of Color: Gil Evans Project Live at Jazz Standardas Best Large Jazz Ensemble. “Truesdell’s passion and dedication have rendered this band more than a simple repertory ensemble. On its second outing, the ensemble is a precise research tool. His ob­session is our reward.” – John Corbett, Down Beat (four stars ****)   5/16–5/17 These nights will spotlight music written by Gil Evans during his tenure (1941–1948) with the Claude Thornhill Orchestra. Thursday (5/16) will feature music written for a four–voice quartet plus big band, and some music composed in 1946 for a slightly larger band – none of which has been performed since the 1940s by anyone, including the Gil Evans Project. Friday (5/17) will focus on music from 1947 featuring the flute section that the Project has not utilized since recording live at Jazz Standard in 2014.   5/18–5/19 These four sets will showcase a variety of music written by Gil Evans wrote throughout the 1950s and 1960s, from such revered albums as Out Of The Cool, New Bottle Old Wine, and The Individualism of Gil Evans. The performances will include numbers composed for vocalists, with Wendy Gilles singing with the Gil Evans Project.  Ryan Truesdell – conductor  Steve Wilson, Dave Pietro, Donny McCaslin, Tom Christensen, Alden Banta, Steve Kenyon (5/16–5/17), Jesse Han (5/17), Jessica Taskov (5/17) – reeds  Adam Unsworth, David Peel – French horns Augie Haas (lead), Scott Wendholt, Mike Rodriguez, Riley Mulherkar (5/16) – trumpets  Ryan Keberle, Marshall Gilkes – trombones George Flynn – bass trombone Marcus Rojas – tuba (5/17–5/19) James Chirillo – guitar Frank Kimbrough – piano Jay Anderson – bass Lewis Nash – drums With Vocalists: Wendy Gilles (5/16–5/19) Tomas Cruz (5/16) Nathaniel Adams (5/16) Dominic Inferrera (5/16)