This year marks Bill Charlap’s eighth summer as artistic director of 92nd Street Y’s Jazz in July summer festival. One of the world’s premier jazz pianists, Mr. 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, Mr. 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, Mr. 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.
Mr. 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, Mr. 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, Mr. Charlap and Ms. Stewart released the acclaimed CD, Love Is Here to Stay (Blue Note). This past November, they made their eighth appearance together at The Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel and this past February, they headlined a concert on the 92Y Jazz series.
Mr. Charlap is married to renowned jazz pianist Renee Rosnes. The two artists often collaborate in a duo piano setting. In 2010, Mr. Charlap and Ms. Rosnes released Double Portrait, on the Blue Note label, recorded at 92nd Street Y.
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Originally from Vancouver, Renee Rosnes (pronounced REE-nee) has toured and recorded with many leading jazz masters, including Joe Henderson, J. J. Johnson, Wayne Shorter, James Moody and Bobby Hutcherson. She was also a founder and a member of the all-star ensemble SFJAZZ Collective and she is currently a member of the Ron Carter Quartet: Foursight. As a leader, Ms. Rosnes has released 14 recordings, four of which have garnered Juno Awards, the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy. The two most recent are Manhattan Rain (Pony Canyon Japan), which features Ms. Rosnes in trio, quartet and quintet settings and includes four original compositions; and Double Portrait (Blue Note), a CD of two-piano duets with her husband Bill Charlap. Ms. Rosnes is also a distinguished composer and arranger; many of her arrangements are featured at Jazz in July concerts. Her website is reneerosnes.com.
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Vibraphonist Steve Nelson began performing in his hometown of Pittsburgh and earned a master’s degree in music from Rutgers University. He frequently played with his Rutgers professors James Spaulding and Kenny Barron before joining David “Fathead” Newman’s Quintet. In the mid-‘90s, as he was developing a harmonically open sound, influenced by one of his heroes, Bobby Hutcherson, Mr. Nelson was invited by George Shearing to join his band. He is now a member of Dave Holland’s Quintet and Big Band, and the Renee Rosnes Quartet. He has also toured and recorded with a wide range of artists including Donald Brown, Bobby Watson and the late Jackie McLean, as well as his longtime collaborator, pianist Mulgrew Miller. Mr. Nelson has made six recordings as a leader; his most recent is Sound-Effect, on the High Note label.
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Trumpeter Greg Gisbert hit the national jazz scene while a high school student in Denver. He attended the Berklee College of Music for a year, before he left to tour with the Buddy Rich Orchestra, followed by the Woody Herman Ochestra and John Fedchock’s New York Big Band. He is now a member of the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars and All-Star Big Band, and the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, and he regularly performs with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. He has also performed with the ensembles of Toshiko Akiyoshi, Horace Silver and Maynard Ferguson, among others, and he is cofounder of the jazz sextet Convergence. Mr. Gisbert has three CDs as a leader on the Criss Cross label, and more than five dozen recordings as a soloist and sideman. He is also active as an educator and jazz clinician.
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A native of Omaha, guitarist Dave Stryker was a member of Stanley Turrentine’s quintet for ten years. As a sideman, he has more than 50 CDs to his credit, and he has 23 CDs as a leader of his own groups: the Stryker/Slagle Band with Steve Slagle, the Dave Stryker Organ Trio and the Blue to the Bone Band. His most recent CD, Blue Strike, made many Best of 2011 lists, including WBGO Jazz Radio. Mr. Stryker has recorded and published more than 130 of his own compositions, and artists like Turrentine, Kevin Mahagony and Victor Lewis have recorded his music. Mr. Stryker is on the faculty of Montclair State University and teaches at workshops in the US and Europe. His book Dave Stryker’s Jazz Guitar Improvisation Method was published by Mel Bay. His website is davestryker.com.
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Scott Colley has been the bassist of choice for such jazz legends as Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Andrew Hill and Michael Brecker. In recent years he has flourished as composer and bandleader in his own right. Born in Los Angeles, he attended the California Institute for the Arts, then moved to New York, where he toured with Carmen McRae, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Henderson and Art Farmer. Beginning in 2000, he spent five years touring with Herbie Hancock’s trio and other ensembles, then later with Pat Metheny’s trio, among others. Mr. Colley has appeared on more than 200 albums. His debut CD as leader was Portable Universe in 1996, and he has made six more, most recently Empire in 2010 for CAM Records. He is currently a faculty member at Purchase College (SUNY), and his website is scottcolley.com.
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