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| Jazz in July Festival - Bill Charlap, Artistic Director (7.19-28.05) |
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| Tickets/Registration: 212.415.5500 |
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| Media Contact: Beverly Greenfield, 212.415.5452, email |
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| JAZZ IN JULY at the 92nd STREET Y |
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| July 19-28, 2005 |
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BILL CHARLAP'S FIRST SEASON AS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR |
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RAY BRYANT ♦ HANK JONES
HOUSTON PERSON ♦ MULGREW MILLER ♦ JIM HALL
TOM HARRELL ♦ JOE LOVANO ♦ DAVE FRISHBERG
FREDDY COLE ♦ BUCKY PIZZARELLI ♦ SANDY STEWART
All Concerts at 8:00 p.m.
92nd Street Y / Lexington Avenue & 92nd Street
Information & Tickets: www.92Y.org/Jazz or 212-415-5500
Tickets: $45 |
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| New York, NY, May, 9, 2005—One of New York's jazz institutions, Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y, embarks on an exciting new phase this summer when pianist, arranger and Blue Note recording artist Bill Charlap presides over his first season of Jazz in July as artistic director. In six concerts over two weeks — Tuesday, July 19 to Thursday, July 28 — Charlap brings together some of the world's best jazz players, young and old, for once-in-a-lifetime performances. Charlap succeeds Dick Hyman, who stepped down last summer after 20 years as founding artistic director of Jazz in July. |
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This summer's Jazz in July festival continues the emphasis on mainstream piano jazz, with one night devoted to George Gershwin (hot on the heels of Charlap's new CD, Bill Charlap Plays George Gerswhin — The American Soul, on Blue Note); another to Hoagy Carmichael (featuring Dave Frishberg); and a third to Nat "King" Cole (featuring Freddy Cole and Dennis Mackrel). Charlap also presents his take on Dick Hyman's "piano party" with an unprecedented gathering of jazz pianists in "Continuum," with Hank Jones, Ray Bryant, Mulgrew Miller, Renee Rosnes and Charlap himself at the keyboards. The festival features a new Charlap-inspired evening devoted to the work of a living jazz master in "Jazz Legacy;" this year, the focus is on guitarist Jim Hall. Charlap also explores be-bop — the classic jazz that was born in the late 1940s and developed throughout the 1950s and '60s — with a night devoted to Horace Silver and Kenny Dorham, featuring Charlap's contemporaries on the New York jazz scene. |
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| Charlap says, "Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y gives me the opportunity to explore jazz from a variety of perspectives in a concert hall that is perfect for our music. We've got a different 'dream team' of musicians every night — whether it's Ray Bryant and Hank Jones doing piano duets, or Dave Frishberg conjuring Hoagy Carmichael or Jim Hall on the same bill with Peter Bernstein, Joe Lovano and Tom Harrell. What a treat for me — and for our audience." |
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| Complementing Charlap's role as artistic director is his award-winning record producer Joel Moss, who has been named producer of Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y. Moss works with Hanna Arie-Gaifman, director of the 92nd Street Y Tisch Center for the Arts, which presents the festival and the Y's other music programs. |
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| In his 35 years in the music industry, Joel Moss has worked on jazz, rock, classical and Broadway cast recordings. His recent credits include Ray Charles's Grammy-winning recording, "Genius Loves Company," both of Rod Stewart's Grammy-nominated American songbook CDs, and several recordings for Tony Bennett, including the recent Grammy-winning "Playin' with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues" and "Bennett Sings Ellington — Hot & Cool." Moss has also worked with Harry Connick, Jr., Herbie Hancock, Cissy Houston, Audra McDonald, Shirley Horn, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Little Richard and Dawn Upshaw, among many others. |
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| GERSHWIN'S VISION |
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| Tuesday, July 19 at 8 pm |
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| Jazz in July opens with "Gershwin's Vision," featuring the first New York performance of music from Charlap's forthcoming Blue Note CD, Bill Charlap Plays George Gerswhin — The American Soul (June 28, 2005). Of his decision to focus on Gershwin, Charlap says, "Gershwin is the heart and soul of American music... Gershwin's music is designed for interpretation and reinterpretation. We will never run out of ways to play and arrange his songs." |
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| The concert features Charlap's new septet arrangements of Gershwin's music, written for the CD and performed here by Charlap's trio (Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington on drums) along with an all-star horn section: Houston Person, saxophone, Jon Gordon, alto saxophone, and Jeremy Pelt, trumpet, and a trombonist to be announced. Eleanor Bindman explores Gershwin's classical side with some of Earl Wild's piano transcriptions of Gershwin's tunes, which Charlap describes as "Gershwin meets Rachmaninoff meets Liszt." Charlap and Ted Rosenthal join forces for two-piano improvisations — a venerable Jazz in July tradition. And vocalist Sandy Stewart (who is also Charlap's mother) joins Charlap and company to sing a selection of Gershwin's songs. |
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| CONTINUUM |
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| Wednesday, July 20 at 8 pm |
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| This concert of jazz piano music features a rare gathering of pianists from across a "Continuum" of jazz styles and generations: Hank Jones, Ray Bryant, Mulgrew Miller, Renee Rosnes and Bill Charlap. In rolling changes of personnel between numbers, pianists perform solo and duo pieces in different configurations with each other and with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington. |
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| The legendary Hank Jones, born in Detroit in 1918, is the oldest of the three legendary jazz Jones brothers (the others being Thad and Elvin). Jones is one of the most influential pianists of his generation. He has played with most of jazz's greatest players over the last 60 years, including Coleman Hawkins, Billy Eckstine, Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman. Another elder statesman, Ray Bryant (b. 1931), is also part of a famous jazz family — he is the younger brother of bassist Tommy Bryant and the uncle of Kevin and Robin Eubanks. His technique is rooted in a combination of traditional styles like blues, boogie-woogie, gospel, and stride, as well as be-bop. He has performed and recorded with jazz greats including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, and Sonny Rollins, as well as with his own trio. Mulgrew Miller's (b.1955) influences include McCoy Tyner and Horace Silver. As a sideman, he played with Mercer Ellington's big band, Woody Shaw, Betty Carter and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers; more recently, he toured with fellow pianist Kenny Barron. Miller is also one of the most recorded pianists on the jazz scene today. Pianist and composer Renee Rosnes has released nine acclaimed recordings as a leader for Blue Note records. She has performed and recorded with such jazz giants as J.J. Johnson, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, James Moody, and Bobby Hutcherson. She was recently invited to join the San Francisco JAZZ Collective, an all-star resident jazz ensemble led by saxophonist Joshua Redman. |
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| JAZZ LEGACY: A PORTRAIT OF JIM HALL |
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| Thursday, July 21 at 8 pm |
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| Bill Charlap calls Jim Hall "the father figure of modern jazz guitar." Hall attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and studied classical guitar and composition. In the 1950s, he performed with the Chico Hamilton Quintet and the Jimmy Giuffre Three. He toured with Ella Fitzgerald and played with Lee Konitz, Sonny Rollins and Art Farmer. For the last 30 years, Hall has been recognized as one of the most important figures in the jazz world. He has recorded many CDs of his own, as well as two classic duet albums with pianist Bill Evans, a 1999 collaboration with guitarist Pat Metheny, and two recordings of his own compositions, "Textures" and "By Arrangement." |
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| This concert explores the tremendous breadth of Jim Hall's work as an instrumentalist and his influence on younger guitarists like Peter Bernstein, Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny. Also on the program are Hall's compositions for solo guitar and quartet with jazz trio, as well as two pieces that involve both guitar and string ensemble: his arrangement of John Lewis' "Django," and his own composition "October Song." Film clips provide a glimpse of Hall's early work with Sonny Rollins and his relationship to jazz guitar great Charlie Christian. |
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| The evening features Hall and Peter Bernstein on guitar, Bill Charlap on piano, Tom Harrell on trumpet, Joe Lovano on saxophone, Steve LaSpina on bass, and Terry Clarke on drums, along with a 12-piece string ensemble. |
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| HOAGY'S CHILDREN |
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| Tuesday, July 26 at 8 pm |
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| Hoagy Carmichael (1899-1981) wrote a raft of popular and jazz standards: "Stardust," "Georgia on My Mind," "Up a Lazy River," "Rockin' Chair," "The Nearness of You," "Heart and Soul." Carmichael, who was a pianist and singer as well as a songwriter, was also drawn to the cornet playing of the legendary Bix Beiderbecke. In fact, Carmichael's first composition, "Riverboat Shuffle," was recorded by Bix and the Wolverines in 1924, and became a Dixieland standard. |
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| Bill Charlap recorded Carmichael's songs on his CD "Stardust" (Blue Note, 2002); here, he explores Hoagy Carmichael's distinctive song-writing style, his musical persona and his relationship to jazz and jazz musicians like Beiderbecke. |
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| "If there is a modern-day pianist/singer/songwriter who channels the spirit of Hoagy Carmichael, it's Dave Frishberg," says Charlap. Frishberg makes a rare concert-hall appearance in New York to offer his own wry take on Carmichael's songs. Singer Barbara Lea provides another Carmichael-inspired voice — she recorded a classic collection of Carmichael's songs called "Hoagy's Children" (Audiophile, 1981). The band features several Jazz in July veterans: Bucky Pizzarelli, guitar; Ken Peplowski, clarinet; Byron Stripling, trumpet/cornet; Scott Robinson, C-melody saxophone; Jon Gordon, alto saxophone; Jay Leonhart, bass; and Kenny Washington and Eddie Locke, drums. |
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| THE FRONT LINE: SMALL GROUP JAZZ OF HORACE SILVER & KENNY DORHAM |
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| Wednesday, July 27 at 8pm |
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| Charlap brings the current crop of be-bop-influenced New York jazz players to Jazz in July to pay tribute to two founding fathers of contemporary mainstream jazz: composer/pianist Horace Silver (b. 1928) and composer/trumpeter Kenny Dorham (1924-1972). Silver and Dorham are both masters of the classic jazz quintet, and their compositions have become enduring jazz standards. |
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| In the 1950s, Horace Silver pioneered the hard-bop style of jazz. "He remains a vital composer and performer, with a style that taps bebop, gospel and Latin music," says Charlap. Silver played with Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young and Lou Donaldson; he also recorded the classic "Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers" with Art Blakey — a milestone recording in the development of hard-bop. Kenny Dorham was a contemporary of Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, and although his name is not well known outside of jazz circles, Charlap calls him "a singular voice on trumpet and a brilliant composer who was tremendously influential throughout his career." Dorham played with Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Parker and Max Roach, as well as in his own groups, where he fostered the careers of several other jazz musicians, including saxophone player Joe Henderson. |
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| Joining Charlap are David Hazeltine, Mike LeDonne on piano; Joe Magnarelli and Jim Rotondi on trumpet; Jimmy Greene and Jerry Weldon on saxophone; Joe Locke on vibes; Peter Washington on bass; and Joe Farnsworth and Kenny Washington on drums. |
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| UNFORGETTABLE: NAT "KING" COLE |
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| Thursday, July 28 at 8pm |
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| Nat "King" Cole (1919-1965) topped the charts in the 1950s and early '60s with hits like "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons," "Mona Lisa" and "Unforgettable." But before he became famous as a popular singer (and then throughout his pop music career), Cole was a tremendously influential jazz pianist, inspiring pianists from Oscar Peterson to Ahmad Jamal, and setting the standard for the jazz trio of piano, guitar and drums. |
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| To celebrate Cole's music, Charlap welcomes pianist and singer Freddy Cole (Nat Cole's brother) and his quartet. Freddy Cole is one of the most respected jazz vocalists on the scene today, and his biography notes that "he doesn't apologize for sounding like his brother," although his voice is somewhat smokier. He studied at Juilliard, where he was influenced by John Lewis, Oscar Peterson and Teddy Wilson, and later at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he earned his Master's degree. He has been recording since 1952 and touring internationally since the 1970s. The New York Times called him "overall, the most maturely expressive male jazz singer of his generation, if not the best alive." |
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| Also joining the proceedings is jazz drummer, arranger and composer Dennis Mackrel. At age 20, Mackrel joined the Count Basie Orchestra on the personal recommendation of Joe Williams, and continued with the orchestra under Thad Jones (after Basie's death). In 1990, Mel Lewis picked Mackrel to succeed him as the drummer for the Village Vanguard Orchestra. Mackrel's own Manhattan Symphony Jazz Orchestra is a diverse collection of New York's best jazz players. |
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| Charlap also welcomes James Chirillo on guitar and Ben Wolfe on bass to recall Nat Cole's classic music for jazz trio, as well as Joe Locke on vibes. |
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| PRE-FESTIVAL MASTER CLASS |
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| Monday, July 18 at 8:15 pm / Tickets: $20 |
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| On Monday, July 18 at 8:15 p.m., Bill Charlap and Ted Rosenthal present the annual pre-festival master class. Students range from aspiring professionals and college students to serious amateurs whose day jobs as doctors and lawyers haven't kept them away from jazz. |
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| ABOUT JAZZ IN JULY |
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| Over two decades, under Dick Hyman's direction, Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y, has welcomed the royalty of jazz to the Y's stage, including Milt Hinton, Ruby Braff, Dick Wellstood, Ralph Sutton, Flip Phillips, Peanuts Hucko, Major Holley and Joe Williams. Others who have been with the festival since its early days and have continued to appear in recent years include Bucky Pizzarelli, Byron Stripling, Derek Smith, Evan Christopher, Joe Wilder, Jay Leonhart, The Jim Cullum Jazz Band, John Sheridan, Johnny Frigo, Kenny Davern, Marian McPartland and Wycliffe Gordon, among others. The festival also nurtured younger jazz musicians, many of whom are now veterans — including current artistic director Bill Charlap, pianist Ted Rosenthal, trumpeter Randy Sandke, guitarist Howard Alden and reed players Ken Peplowski and Dan Levinson. Dick Hyman stepped down as artistic director in 2004 and passed the baton to pianist, arranger and Blue Note recording artist Bill Charlap, whose takes the reins in his first season at the festival this summer. |
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| ABOUT THE 92nd STREET Y |
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| Since its concert series began in 1934, what is now the 92nd Street Y Tisch Center for the Arts, endowed through the generous support of Joan and Preston Robert Tisch, has presented acclaimed classical musicians like Janos Starker, Emmanuel Pahud and the Tokyo String Quartet. The Center is also well known for its two jazz series — Jazz Piano at the Y directed by jazz great Dick Hyman and Jazz in July, directed by Bill Charlap — as well as its Lyrics & Lyricists series, the grandfather of the now popular American songbook series. The Center's legendary Unterberg Poetry Center (estab. 1939) presents the country's oldest and most illustrious reading series and an extensive writing program that gives working adults the opportunity to learn from well-known, published authors. Outreach activities include a literacy program for new immigrants and workshops for high school students taught by some of the country's leading writers. |
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| Founded in 1874 by a group of visionary Jewish leaders, the 92nd Street Y has grown into a wide-ranging cultural and community center serving people of all races, faiths and backgrounds. The 92nd Street Y's mission is to enrich the lives of the over 300,000 people who visit each year — both in person and through Live from NY's 92nd Street Y!, the Y's satellite broadcast program. The organization' East Side headquarters and West Side outpost, Makor, offer comprehensive performing arts, film and spoken word events; courses in the humanities, arts and Jewish education; activities and workshops for children, teenagers and parents; and health and fitness programs for people of every age. Committed to making its programs available to everyone, the 92nd Street Y awards over $1 million in scholarships annually and reaches out to 6,000 public school children each year through subsidized arts education programs. For more information, visit
www.92Y.org/PRESS. |
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| JAZZ IN JULY at the 92nd STREET Y |
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| July 19-28, 2005 |
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92nd Street Y / Lexington Avenue and 92nd Street
Info & Tickets:
www.92Y.org/Jazz / 212-415-5500
Tickets: $45 |
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Tuesday, July 19, 8 pm
OPENING NIGHT — GERSHWIN'S VISION
BILL CHARLAP, TED ROSENTHAL, ELEANOR BINDMAN, piano
JEREMY PELT, trumpet ♦ HOUSTON PERSON, tenor saxophone
JON GORDON, alto saxophone ♦ Trombonist, TBA
SANDY STEWART, vocals ♦ PETER WASHINGTON, bass ♦ KENNY WASHINGTON, drums |
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Wednesday, July 20, 8 pm
CONTINUUM
HANK JONES, RAY BRYANT, MULGREW MILLER, RENEE ROSNES, BILL CHARLAP, piano
PETER WASHINGTON, bass ♦ KENNY WASHINGTON, drums |
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Thursday, July 21, 8 pm
JAZZ LEGACY: A PORTRAIT OF JIM HALL
JIM HALL, guitar ♦ PETER BERNSTEIN, guitar
BILL CHARLAP, piano ♦ TOM HARRELL, trumpet ♦ JOE LOVANO, tenor saxophone
STEVE LASPINA, bass ♦ TERRY CLARKE, drums ♦ 12-PIECE STRING ENSEMBLE |
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Tuesday, July 26, 8 pm
HOAGY'S CHILDREN
BILL CHARLAP, piano ♦ DAVE FRISHBERG, piano & vocals ♦ BARBARA LEA, vocals
BUCKY PIZZARELLI, guitar ♦ KEN PEPLOWSKI, clarinet ♦ BYRON STRIPLING, trumpet/cornet
SCOTT ROBINSON, C-melody saxophone ♦ JON GORDON, alto saxophone
JAY LEONHART, bass ♦ KENNY WASHINGTON, EDDIE LOCKE, drums |
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Wednesday, July 27, 8 pm
THE FRONT LINE: SMALL GROUP JAZZ OF HORACE SILVER & KENNY DORHAM
BILL CHARLAP, DAVID HAZELTINE, MIKE LEDONNE, piano
JOE MAGNARELLI, JIM ROTONDI, trumpet ♦ JIMMY GREENE, JERRY WELDON, tenor saxophone
JOE LOCKE, vibes ♦ PETER WASHINGTON, bass
JOE FARNSWORTH, KENNY WASHINGTON, drums |
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Thursday, July 28, 8 pm
UNFORGETTABLE: NAT "KING" COLE
BILL CHARLAP, piano ♦ FREDDY COLE AND THE FREDDY COLE QUARTET
THE MANHATTAN SYMPHONY JAZZ ORCHESTRA, Conducted by DENNIS MACKREL
JOE LOCKE, vibes ♦ JAMES CHIRILLO, guitar ♦ BEN WOLFE, bass |
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© 2008 92nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association
All Rights Reserved. |
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