Grammy Award-winning pianist Bill Charlap has performed with many of the leading artists of our time, from Wynton Marsalis and Tony Bennett to Phil Woods and Ron Carter. He is acclaimed for his interpretations of the American Popular Songbook and has recorded albums featuring the music of Hoagy Carmichael, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Duke Ellington.
Since 1997, he has led the Bill Charlap Trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, recognized as one of the leading groups in jazz. The trio earned Grammy nominations for Uptown Downtown (Impulse!/Verve), Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein (Blue Note) and The Bill Charlap Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note). Their 2016 recording, Notes from New York (Impulse!/Verve) earned a five-star review in Downbeat, which hailed it as “a masterclass in class.” The trio’s most recent release, Street of Dreams marks their return to the Blue Note label. The Bill Charlap Trio tours all over the world and New York engagements include regular appearances at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland and the Village Vanguard.
Mr. Charlap was the Artistic Director of the 92NY’s Jazz in July Festival for 18 years. He has also produced concerts for Jazz at Lincoln Center, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), the Chicago Symphony Center and the Hollywood Bowl. He is currently Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University in New Jersey. Founded in 1973, it is one of the longest-running and most respected jazz programs in the world.
Born in New York City, Mr. Charlap began playing the piano at age three. His father was Broadway composer Moose Charlap, who wrote the score for the Mary Martin production of Peter Pan, and his mother is singer Sandy Stewart, who toured with Benny Goodman, appeared on the Ed Sullivan and Perry Como shows, and she earned a Grammy award nomination for her 1963 recording, My Coloring Book.
Mr. Charlap’s album with Tony Bennett, The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern (RPM/ Columbia), won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. It features Mr. Charlap and Mr. Bennett in duet, in collaboration with the Bill Charlap Trio and in duo piano performances with his wife, renowned jazz pianist and composer, Renee Rosnes.
Mr. Charlap and Ms. Rosnes frequently perform two piano concerts. Of their recording, Double Portrait (Blue Note), Downbeat wrote: “The counterpoint and compatibilities are so perfectly balanced, the selections and arrangements so handsome, that ‘Double Portrait’ is a prize.”
2024
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSOA by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
