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One
of the surprising things about jazz pianist Bill
Charlap's SOMEWHERE, his third release on the
Blue Note label, is that it hadn't come along
sooner. The album title commemorates the final
track of this trio recording-a set of jazz
interpretations on the music of Leonard Bernstein.
Bernstein, perhaps the most famous and revered
musical figure ever produced in the United States,
was a conductor, composer, and pianist who bridged
the worlds of classical and pop music-writing
ballets, operas, symphonies and legendary Broadway
musicals like West Side Story with equal aplomb.
Clearly, Leonard Bernstein's music-sophisticated,
graceful and inviting-finds the perfect home in
Charlap's artful fingers. Indeed, Whitney
Balliett's comment in The New Yorker that,
"In almost every number, regardless of its
speed, [Charlap] leaves us a phrase, a group of
irregular notes, an ardent bridge that shakes
us," applies equally well to Bernstein. But
the connections go deeper. As the pianist himself
puts it, "Bernstein represents the theater,
the classical establishment, America, and-more
than anything else-New York."
Critics have described Charlap's style variously
as hard swinging, romantic or rigorous, but his
musical roots can be found in a childhood home
filled with songs and songwriters. His father,
Moose Charlap, was a Broadway composer, known
especially for his work on Peter Pan. His mother,
Sandy Stewart, is a singer who, forty years ago,
had a hit with the Kander and Ebb ballad, "My
Coloring Book." Houseguests often included
legendary figures from the great American
songbook.
"It was a unique experience," he
remembers. "A lot of great songwriters were
friends of my parents. My mother was doing demo
records for composers like Jule Styne and Meredith
Wilson and Richard Rodgers. Composers and
lyricists such as Charles Strouse, Yip Harburg,
and Marilyn & Alan Bergman were part of my
formative years."
After attending the New York High School of
Performing Arts (of Fame fame) and studying with
jazz pianist Jack Reilly, classical pianist
Eleanor Hancock, and jazz great (and distant
cousin) Dick Hyman, he went on to college-but only
temporarily.
"My classical foundation was very important,
of course," he now says. "But the
conservatory atmosphere was getting in the way of
my jazz studies. Pianist Bill Mays and I had
struck up a friendship and one day he said, 'Why
don't you come up to my place? I've got a Fender
Rhodes set up and we can play duo pianos.' After
we played he said, 'Listen, I'm going to be
leaving Gerry Mulligan's band, I think you're
ready to replace me.' I didn't think I was, but I
went to Gerry's place and auditioned, and we hit
it off very well. Mulligan's famous line was, 'I
shot for 42nd Street and ended up on 52nd.' And
there is something about that I relate to."
Both artists had arrived in Jazz Alley via
Broadway song.
Charlap was on his way. He has been influenced, he
claims, by every musician he has ever worked with,
including the members of his current trio, bassist
Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington (no
relation). The list includes such stellar jazz
artists as Benny Carter, Clark Terry, Jim Hall,
Frank Wess, Grady Tate, Phil Woods and Tony
Bennett. But he has also been influenced by his
mother's singing ("Her phrasing influences
the way I play melody. In many ways I approach the
song from a singer's perspective, music and lyrics
are of equal importance"). Charlap's
influences reflect the seriousness with which he
has studied the entire jazz lineage. "I
admire the elegance of Tommy Flanagan, the
harmonic language and bebop phrasing of Hank
Jones, the linear aspects of Lenny Tristano. Then
there are Teddy Wilson, Earl Hines, Art Tatum,
Jimmy Rowles, Errol Garner, Thelonious Monk, Ellis
Larkins, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, McCoy
Tyner, Kenny Barron, Roger Kellaway, Bobby
Timmons, Wynton Kelly, Red Garland. People usually
think of Bill Evans as a harmonist and romantic,
but I'm influenced by Bill the bebop player, the
rhythm section player he was when he worked for
Miles. But I'm also influenced by non-pianists,
like Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Coltrane, Miles,
Wayne Shorter and Chet Baker.
"I try not to think about the piano per
se," he reveals. "I'm not interested in
bravura displays. Melody is the most sublime of
all the utterances. Harmony is an emotional
response. Rhythm is physical. Melody is an
intuitive response that carries both the emotional
and the physical."
Which brings us back to Bernstein. "One of
the fascinating things about Bernstein is that he
wrote a symphony before he ever wrote a popular
song," Charlap explains, "so he came
from the other side of the tracks. He was a great
conductor and composer, and the first American to
be accepted by the European establishment. His
music is very 'through composed,' not like the
blueprint you'll get with Kern or Porter or
Berlin. Like Sondheim, his accompaniments are very
well constructed, which can be an asset but also a
curse. You don't want to just stick to what was
written, you want to find your own way, yet you
want to be informed by what the composer has done.
Because he's such a literate composer, Bernstein
gives you a certain feeling from the first two
bars. Think of 'Cool' or 'Lonely Town'- they
create a spiritual dynamic right from the
beginning. He goes to places that other composers
do not, because they were toiling in a different
soil.
"His music also speaks to me and to my
generation because it was a part of our childhood.
My contemporaries have a direct connection to West
Side Story in a way that perhaps they don't to Oh
Kay or Kiss Me Kate. These are part of my history,
but when you deal with Bernstein you touch
something that we have all grown up with, like the
Beatles. It is very powerful."
That power is conveyed with unmatched musical
eloquence by the Bill Charlap Trio on this
milestone recording. Listen to the opening
"Cool" from West Side Story, with its
jaunty rhythms and bluesy turns, and the rich,
haunting lyricism of "Lonely Town," from
On The Town. Sample the buoyant swing of
"It's Love," the frenzied drive of
"Jump," the melancholy undercurrents of
"Glitter & Be Gay," the
Afro-Caribbean flavor of "America."
Charlap approaches each song with loving
appreciation, throwing new light on "It's
Love," "Some Other Time," "A
Quiet Girl," Big Stuff,"
"Ohio" and-in a solo performance of
extraordinary sensitivity and harmonic
sophistication-the poignant "Somewhere."
Bill Charlap and Leonard Bernstein-two masters at
the top of their form-make this an unforgettable
musical experience.
Interview
with Fred Jung
Jazz Weekly's Editor-In-Chief
March 2005
A FIRESIDE CHAT WITH BILL CHARLAP
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