A nice appreciation of Evans.
Is Monk really sui generis? I think there is a second piano tradition born of the Harlem pianists like James P. Johnson, and it runs to Duke and then to Monk, and appears in amalgamated form with the other tradition in folks like Elmo Hope and Barry Harris.
And there may be one exception to your observation about styles not set before 1960 developing in the shadow of Kind of Blue. I think Jackie McLean had a distinct style before and after Kind of Blue. Frankly, I can’t stand his early work, which always sounded strained, frantic and involved the worst sort of change-running — a sweaty steeplechase from chord to chord. I don’t think there was a musician who greater benefited from Kind of Blue’s influence. McLean responded to the greater demand that modal jazz placed on the soloist to create a body of work on Blue Note from 1960-1966 that is extraordinary. I have them all in my collection, and dutifully pulled them all out when he died, and they are as fresh and as exciting as they were 40-45 years ago. A Fickle Sonance still blows me right across the room, the same way it did when I first heard it on Symphony Sid‘s show in 1963.
Don Frese