Steeped in music from his childhood, Evans cut his teeth in the Philly club scene where he was mentored by Shirley Scott, Trudy Pitts, Charles Fambrough, and Mikey Roker, and studied with fellow Philadelphian Kenny Barron at Rutgers University.
He released his Criss Cross debut, Justin Time, at the age of 21, and parlayed his sideman stints with saxophonists Bobby Watson and Branford Marsalis and drummer Ralph Peterson Jr. into a superlative career as a composer and bandleader. To date he’s released 25 albums in multiple settings, won a 2010 Pew Fellowship in the Arts, and topped multiple DownBeat Critic’s Polls.

In addition to his trio and quartet, Evans leads the Captain Black Big Band and the trio Tarbaby with bassist Eric Revis and drummer Nasheet Waits, and famously replaced pianist Ethan Iverson in The Bad Plus in 2017, serving a three-year stint with the band and releasing two albums.

Evans’ most recent album, the 2023 Smoke Sessions release The Red Door, is a scintillating session compiled from recordings made over the last three years that features appearances by trumpeter Nicholas Payton, vocalist Jazzmeia Horn, and the late trumpet great Wallace Roney.