The swing big-bands were grinding to a commercial impasse while the small-group jump bands and R&B units took over the "race" charts.
Evans dropped out of Fields band not because of dissatisfaction with the music or his role within it, but because he was called to service. "It looks as if I better brush up on piccolo," he wrote to Dr. Pottle in October 1950, "because I received my selective-service physical examination notice last week, and it looks like I will leave Herbie Fields and go with Uncle Sam for a while" (CD insert Homecoming). His national service in the Army lasted from early 1951 to early 1954. "His experiences in the military were similar to those of many musicians of the period, and while he managed to avoid the more brutally prejudiced service camps and NCOs, he would later recall no pleasurable memories of the army" (Bill Evan, Everything Happens to Me, 52). At the end of his three years in the military Evans returned home, know in Florida where his parents moved upon his father's retirement. He spent the next year at home working on his piano technique. After a destructive army experience he wanted to rebuild his approach to music. He told Brian Hennessey years later, "It did not come easy I had to build my music very consciously, from the bottom up" (Jazz Journal International, March 1985). It was during this time that Evans conceived "Waltz for Debby," perhaps his most famous peace of all. "This sparkling solo piano waltz, a portrait of a young niece, has an underlying sense of calm joy and has very little of what may be termed jazz content" (Shadwick, 53).
After his low-key year at home it was only logical for the musician to pack his bags and move back to New York. Once settled there he began looking for work playing jazz around the clubs, bars and other venues. While chasing worthwhile jazz work, he was hooking up with any of his old contacts that might lead him to better things.
