Orrin Evans.

In the early ’90s, there seemed to be an explosion of talent within the jazz scene. Of course, there is always ample talent out there, and artists with great potential seem to emerge from unexpected places every day. This period, however, felt different. Artists like Joshua Redman, Brian Blade, Christian McBride and Nicholas Payton, just to name a few, all came from different backgrounds, but burst onto the scene sharing similar qualities. They all presented an ethos that was very much rooted in the African American jazz tradition, but without any pretense that they felt beholden to the music of yore. Pianist Orrin Evans was also regularly name checked with these other players, and like them, he is no longer an artist with potential. He is established, in his prime, and is now set on forging a path built around his own individual voice and expression.

“When you start out, you’re chasing something, and at a certain point I decided that I’m not going to chase that anymore, I’m just going to do what I do,” said Evans during a recent interview with DCist.

Evans, who will be performing this weekend at Bohemian Caverns, decided to document this new stage in his career with an album. Flip The Script has already been released in Japan and is due out shortly in the United States. For this recording, Evans assembled a new band, wrote new songs and took a fresh approach to his playing.

“It’s my starting over record,” Evans said. “I’m not starting over because things are bad, or that things are going bad. There are just new things going on and I’m just hoping for the best.”

Flip The Script is also Evans’ attempt to create a soundtrack to accompany what he sees as both positive and negative changes within the industry. After years of seeing club owners and promoters trying to intimidate young musicians into compromising in order to get gigs, he hopes to show them that by following their own muse, they will actually create more opportunities for themselves. To underscore this point, he chose to record “Everybody Rejoice (A Brand New Day)”, a song from the musical, The Wiz.

“It’s not the hippest tune to be playing, but it really speaks volumes about what’s going on in the industry,” explained Evans.

In addition to one other standard, the album contains three older songs that Evans wrote some time ago but never recorded, as well as three brand new compositions. Flip The Script was recorded as a piano trio, but that was not the original intention. Evans was originally going to record with a larger group, but the record label backed out just week before the session. Evans decided to trim down the ensemble and came up with the new material just two days before the group met for its first rehearsal.

This weekend’s sets will feature some of the songs from Flip The Script in a slightly different context, as Evans will be leading a quartet. Drummer Byron Landham and bassist Dezron Douglas will complete the rhythm section. Tim Warfield, who was also among Evans peers while coming up in the ’90s, will join the group with his distinctive saxophone style.

Evans does not have any expectations for Flip The Script, other than hoping that his audience will see honest music that will inspire people to check out more jazz.

“I want people understand there’s a difference between what I do and Kenny G,” he said. “I also want them to walk away with a desire to hear more live music and a desire to tell their kids and grandkids. We need some youth to come on out to gigs.”

Orrin Evans & Co. will perform 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. sets this Friday and Saturday at Bohemian Caverns. $20.