Bill Charlap

Bill Charlap – piano
Peter Washington – bass
Kenny Washington – drums

Grammy Award winning pianist, Bill Charlap has performed with many leading artists of our time, ranging from Phil Woods and Tony Bennett to Gerry Mulligan and Wynton Marsalis. He is known for his interpretations of American popular songs and has recorded albums featuring the music of Hoagy Carmichael, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin. Time magazine wrote, “Bill Charlap approaches a song the way a lover approaches his beloved…no matter how imaginative or surprising his take on a song is, he invariably zeroes in on its essence.”

The Bill Charlap Trio was formed in 1997 with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington (no relation), and are now recognized as one of the leading groups in jazz. The trio received two Grammy Award nominations, for Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein and most recently The Bill Charlap Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard. In 2016, Charlap won a Grammy award for Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap: The Silver Lining, The Songs of Jerome Kern (Sony). In 2018, Charlap co-produced and recorded the Grammy nominated album, Tony Bennett & Diana Krall, Love Is Here To Stay.

2021 marks the 17th year of Bill’s artistic directorship of New York City’s Jazz in July Festival at the Kaufmann Concert Hall at 92Y. He has produced several concerts for Jazz at Lincoln Center, an evening of George Gershwin’s music at the Hollywood Bowl, and is the Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey.

Born in New York City, Charlap began playing the piano at age three. His father was Broadway composer Moose Charlap, whose credits include Peter Pan, and his mother is singer Sandy Stewart, who appeared on the Ed Sullivan and Perry Como shows and earned a Grammy nomination for her recording of “My Coloring Book.” In 2005, Charlap and Stewart released the acclaimed CD, Love Is Here To Stay (Blue Note). Charlap is married to renowned jazz pianist Renee Rosnes. The two artists often collaborate in a duo piano setting and have released an album of the Blue Note label, Double Portrait. 

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