Brief Biographies
Mary Stallings, vocals
Phil Woods, alto sax
Jon Gordon, alto sax
Harry Allen, tenor sax
Jimmy Greene, tenor sax
Gary Smulyan, baritone sax
Bill Charlap, piano
Peter Washington, bass
Kenny Washington, drums
Bill Charlap, artistic director & piano
This year marks Bill Charlap’s seventh summer as artistic director of 92nd Street Y’s Jazz in July summer festival. One of the world’s premier jazz pianists, 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.”
In 1997, Charlap formed the Bill Charlap Trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington (no relation), now recognized as one of the leading groups in jazz. In 2000, he signed with Blue Note Records and has since received two Grammy nominations, for Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein and, most recently, The Bill Charlap Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard. The Trio performs all over the world; their New York engagements include regular appearances at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and they will return to the Village Vanguard for a two-week run this fall. In 2009, Charlap was pianist and musical director for The Blue Note 7, an all-star jazz septet celebrating the legacy of Blue Note Records on its 70th anniversary. The septet performed a 50-city tour and released the CD, Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note Records.
Charlap’s experience as concert producer extends beyond Jazz in July. 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. He has produced several concerts for Jazz at Lincoln Center and an evening of George Gershwin’s music at the Hollywood Bowl.
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). This November, they will make their eighth appearance together at the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel, and next February, they will present a concert on the 92Y Jazz series.
Charlap is married to renowned jazz pianist Renee Rosnes. The two artists often collaborate in a duo piano setting. In 2010, Charlap and Rosnes released Double Portrait, on the Blue Note label, recorded at 92nd Street Y. Charlap’s website is billcharlap.com.
Mary Stallings, vocals
Born in San Francisco, Mary Stallings performed with such luminaries as Ben Webster, Cal Tjader and Earl Hines in Bay Area clubs like the hungry i while still in her teens. She broke onto the international scene with the 1961 recording Cal Tjader Plays, Mary Stallings Sings, which was followed by a tour of South America with Dizzie Gillespie’s band, performances with Billy Eckstine and a three-year residency in the Count Basie Orchestra. Stallings then devoted her time to raising her only child, R&B singer Adriana Evans, before returning to singing in the late 1980s. She has since appeared at the Monterey, San Francisco and Savannah music festivals and the Blue Note Jazz Club, among others. Her return CD was 1994’s I Waited for You (Concord Jazz), and last year Stallings became an exclusive HighNote artist with the October release of Dream.
Phil Woods, alto sax
Named an NEA Jazz Master in 2007, Phil Woods is one of the most important alto saxophonists in jazz history. He studied at The Juilliard School, majoring in clarinet because it didn’t yet have a degree in saxophone. For the next 10 years, Woods worked with such greats as Quincy Jones, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Buddy Rich, to name a few, and then moved to France, where he founded the progressive European Rhythm Machine. In 1972, he returned to the US and soon formed the Phil Woods Quintet, which has continued to perform for almost 40 years. As leader, Woods has made dozens of recordings, earning four Grammy Awards and three nominations. His most recent is 2009’s The Children’s Suite (Jazzed Media), his setting of verses by A. A. Milne. He has also recorded with top stars like Billy Joel, Benny Carter, Tony Bennett, Paul Simon and Lena Horne. He is currently involved in a major project to post his entire compositional output onto his website, philwoods.com.
Jon Gordon, alto sax
Jon Gordon is a winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk Competition, and he has been voted as a Rising Star in the DownBeat Critic’s Poll many times, including the 2010 poll in the categories of saxophone and composition. His last CD, Evolution, was selected as one of the Top 10 Jazz CDs of 2009 by numerous critics and magazines. DownBeat magazine selected his previous CD, Within Worlds (2008), as one of the best jazz CDs of the decade. He has played and/or recorded with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Maria Schneider, Benny Carter, Phil Woods, Red Rodney, John Sco!eld, Mark Turner, Bill Stewart, Chico Hamilton, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Williams, Ronnie Mathews, Tim Hagans, Ron Carter, Lewis Nash, Mel Lewis, Clark Terry, Tony Bennett, Joshua Redman, Eddie Locke and others. His website is jongordonmusic.com.
Harry Allen, tenor sax
Harry Allen has performed at jazz festivals and clubs throughout the US, Europe and Asia. Among the artists he has performed and/or recorded with are Rosemary Clooney, Frank Wess, John and Bucky Pizzarelli, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mandel, James Taylor and Sheryl Crow. A Swing Bros. recording artist, Allen has over 40 recordings to his name. Three of his CDs have won Gold Disc Awards from Japan’s Swing Journal magazine. His most recent album is New York State of Mind, and others include Jazz for the Heart, A Night at Birdland, Vol. II, and the Harry Allen—Joe Cohn Quartet’s Stompin’ the Blues with Scott Hamilton. In 2008 and 2006, the Quartet was nominated for Best Jazz Combo by the Jazz Journalists Association and it won the 2006 New York Nightlife Award for Outstanding Jazz Combo Performance. Allen’s website is harryallenjazz.com.
Jimmy Greene, tenor sax
A native of Hartford, CT, Jimmy Greene began playing saxophone at age six and studied with Jackie McLean at the Artists Collective and the University of Hartford. Greene has toured and recorded in the bands of Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard, Tom Harrell, Avishai Cohen, Lewis Nash and Claudia Acuña, among others, and he has appeared on 70 recordings as a sideman. In addition, Greene has performed throughout the US, Canada, Europe and South America with his quartet, and he has released eight recordings as a leader, including his latest, Live at Smalls (SmallsLive, 2010). Greene is on the faculty of the University of Manitoba, and he has taught at Purchase College (SUNY) and The Hartt School. He has received composition commissions and grants from ASCAP/IAJE, Chamber Music America and the Connecticut Commission on the Arts. His website is jimmygreene.com.
Gary Smulyan, baritone sax
Winner of the 2011 Jazz Times Readers and Critics polls for Baritone Saxophonist of the Year, Gary Smulyan is a six-time Grammy Award winner. He is a member of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and Three Baritone Saxophone Band, and he plays with Joe Lovano’s Nonet, the Dave Holland and George Coleman octets and Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band. Smulyan has made more then ten recordings as a leader: his most recent is High Noon: The Jazz Soul of Frankie Lane, preceded by Hidden Treasures, which was voted one of 2005’s best by DownBeat magazine. His 11th, to be released this fall, is Smul’s Paradise (Capri). He also won DownBeat’s Critics Poll and Jazz Journalists Association’s Jazz Award for Baritone Saxophonist of the Year for four years. Smulyan is a faculty member of Amherst College. His website is garysmulyan.com.
Peter Washington, bass
Peter Washington has a discography of more than 450 recordings. Born in Los Angeles, Washington played classical bass as a teen and majored in English literature at UC Berkeley, where he became interested in jazz. He was invited by Art Blakey to join the Jazz Messengers in New York. From there, Washington became part of two of jazz’s most celebrated trios: the Tommy Flanagan Trio, and for the past 14 years, the Bill Charlap Trio. Washington’s freelance work roster is a “who’s who” of jazz, including Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Milt Jackson, Johnny Griffin, Bobby Hutcherson and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. In 2009, Washington was part of The Blue Note 7, a septet formed in honor of the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records. The group recorded the album Mosaic and toured the US in 2009.
Kenny Washington, drums
Kenny Washington was born in Brooklyn. In 1977, while still in his teens, he worked with Lee Konitz and his nonet. He has been a member of the Bill Charlap Trio for 14 years and has performed and recorded with dozens of major artists, giving him a discography of hundreds of titles. Artists include Benny Carter, Betty Carter, Johnny Griffin, Ron Carter, Clark Terry, Milt Jackson, Tommy Flanagan, Dizzy Gillespie, Arturo Sandoval and Benny Goodman. Washington is a noted jazz historian and radio personality; he has written liner notes and helped prepare re-releases by Art Blakey, Count Basie and others, and he was an announcer on WBGO jazz radio. He currently serves on the faculties of Purchase College (SUNY) and The Juilliard School, teaching drums and jazz history.
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