Bill Charlap
William Morrison Charlap (born October 15, 1966, pronounced "Shar-Lap"[1]) is an American jazz pianist. In 2016, The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern, an album featuring Charlap and Tony Bennett, won the award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.
Bill Charlap
William Morrison Charlap
October 15, 1966
New York City, New York, U.S.
Musician
Piano
1990–present
Early life and education[edit]
Born in New York City,[2] Bill Charlap comes from a musical background. His father was the composer Moose Charlap. His mother, Sandy Stewart, is a singer who was a regular on Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall television series and had a hit recording in 1962 with "My Coloring Book".[2][3] Charlap is a distant cousin of the jazz pianist Dick Hyman.[4]
Charlap began playing piano at the age of three.[2] He studied classical music, but his career has been in jazz.
Career[edit]
Charlap recorded Love Is Here to Stay (2004) and Something to Remember (2012) with his mother, Sandy Stewart. His albums Somewhere, featuring the music of Leonard Bernstein, and Live at The Village Vanguard received Grammy Award nominations.
He has worked with Gerry Mulligan, Benny Carter, Tony Bennett, Phil Woods, Scott Hamilton, Ron Carter, and others. In the mid-1990s, he was the musical director of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, A Celebration of Johnny Mercer, part of New York's JVC Jazz Festival.[5] In 1995, he joined the Phil Woods Quintet.[3]
Charlap appears at least twice a year for engagements at jazz clubs, including the Village Vanguard,[6] with his rhythm section, consisting of Peter Washington (double bass) and Kenny Washington (drums) (the two are not related to each other). Since 2001, he has recorded as a member of the New York Trio for the Japanese label Venus Records. The other members of the New York Trio are bassist Jay Leonhart and drummer Bill Stewart.[7]
Charlap succeeded Dick Hyman as artistic director of New York City's 92nd Street Y Jazz in July six-program series after Hyman's 20th year in 2004. He and his wife, Canadian jazz pianist Renee Rosnes, released an album of piano duets Double Portrait on Blue Note Records/EMI.[8]
In 2008, Charlap became part of The Blue Note 7, a septet formed that year in honor of the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records. The group recorded an album in 2008, Mosaic, which was released in 2009 on Blue Note/EMI, and toured the United States in promotion of the album from January to April 2009.[9] The group plays the music of Blue Note Records from various artists, with arrangements by members of the band and his wife Renee Rosnes.
In September 2015, Charlap became the Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey.[2]
Personal life[edit]
He married the Canadian jazz pianist Renee Rosnes in New York City on August 25, 2007.[10] He has two daughters from a previous marriage and one stepson from Rosnes’ previous marriage to Billy Drummond.