At the end of the Seventies the pianist Bill Evans, with the trio formed by Marc Johnson on double bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums, accompanied by the saxophonist Lee Konitz, appeared at Umbria Jazz as a guest artist; two years later he is again in Europe for a series of concerts, this time accompanying him, in addition to Marc Johnson, is the drummer Joe La Barbera. These are the last gasps of a long and prestigious career lived as an absolute protagonist of modern jazz; his state of health, now compressed by the massive use of narcotics, a problem that had gripped him ever since he was called up for military service at a young age, is irreversibly limiting his private life and artistic activity. He died in September 1980. Less than a year earlier, in December 1979, the American pianist had performed at the Music Inn in Rome, but not everything had gone as initially planned by the owner of the venue, Pepito Pignatelli. Before…