Bill Charlap Trio – The Songs of Leonard Bernstein

One of the world’s premier jazz pianists, BILL CHARLAP has performed and recorded with many leading artists of our time, ranging from jazz masters Phil Woods and Wynton Marsalis to singers Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand. Since 1997, he has led the Bill Charlap Trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, now recognized as one of the leading groups in jazz. Charlap is the artistic director of New York City’s Jazz in July Festival at the 92nd Street Y, and he has produced concerts for Jazz at Lincoln Center, the JVC Jazz Festival and the Hollywood Bowl. A two-time Grammy nominee, Charlap is married to renowned jazz pianist Renee Rosnes, and the two often collaborate in a duo piano setting. In the spring of 2010, Charlap and Rosnes released “Double Portrait”, their acclaimed duo piano recording on the Blue Note label.

“Charlap approaches a song the way a lover approaches his beloved…when he sits down to play, the result is an embrace, an act of possession. The tune rises, falls, disappears and resurfaces in new forms as Charlap ranges over the keyboard with nimble, crisply swinging lines, subtly layered textures, dense chords and spiky interjections.” TIME Magazine