The next section of Owen Martell’s Intermission (two of four, if you’re counting) is entitled All Night Vigil (Mary), a reference to a piece by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov—which has meaning in part because Bill Evan’s mother, Mary, was an American from a Russian immigrant family. The first sub-section is called Vespers, and begins, “It was already another hot day when Mary awoke.” This entire three page chapter is all about Mary’s subjective experience of waking up on

Hello there. Let’s continue with our reading of Owen Martell’s novel Intermission. We left off last time looking at the first section of the book, entitled The Petrushka Chord, written from the perspective of Harry Evans, Bill’s brother. After he learns of the death of Scott Lafaro, Bill’s bandmate, Harry has gone out looking for Bill in NYC, concerned that Bill will not handle the tragic news of well. The major subtext here is that Harry is worried about Bill, who is a heroi

In 1961, jazz pianist Bill Evans dropped out of public sight for several weeks, devastated by the car-crash death of Scott LaFaro, his bassist. Evans stayed with his parents in Florida during this time, and this period is the subject of Owen Martell’s 2013 novel Intermission. A film version of the novel has just been released and is entitled, Everybody Digs Bill Evans. Bill Evans was a narcotics user throughout most of his adult life, injecting himself with heroin and later c