Jazz Masters | UNITYFest

Grammy Award-winning pianist Bill Charlap has performed with many of the leading artists of our time, from Phil Woods and Benny Carter to Gerry Mulligan and Wynton Marsalis. He is acclaimed for his interpretations of the American popular songbook, and has recorded albums featuring the music of Hoagy Carmichael, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Duke Ellington.

The Bill Charlap Trio, with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, marks its 23rd year together this season, and is recognized as one of the leading ensembles in jazz. The Trio earned Grammy nomina6ons for 2017’s Uptown Downtown (Impulse!/Verve) and Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein and The Bill Charlap Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard (both on the Blue Note label). Their 2016 album Notes from New York (Impulse!/Verve) earned a five-star review in Downbeat, which hailed it as “a master class in class.” The trio’s most recent recording features them supporting Tony Bennett & Diana Krall on the chart-topping, Grammy nominated Love is Here to Stay. The Bill Charlap Trio tours all over the world, and their New York engagements include regular appearances at Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Village Vanguard.

Last summer, Mr. Charlap celebrated his 15th year as artistic director of the 92nd Street Y’s Jazz in July festival. He has also produced concerts for Jazz at Lincoln Center, New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), the Chicago Symphony Center and the Hollywood Bowl. He is Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey. Founded in 1973, the program is one of the longest-running and most respected jazz programs in the world.

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 toured with Benny Goodman, appeared on the Ed Sullivan and Perry Como shows, and earned a Grammy Award nomination for her recording of “My Coloring Book.”

Mr. Charlap’s collaboration with Tony Bennett, The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern, on the RPM/ Columbia label, won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. It features Mr. Charlap and Mr. Benne] together and in collaboration with The Bill Charlap Trio and in duo piano performances with his wife, renowned jazz pianist and composer Renee Rosnes.

Mr. Charlap and Ms. Rosnes frequently collaborate in duo piano concerts. Their highly acclaimed album Double Portrait is on the Blue Note label. Mr. Charlap’s website is billcharlap.com.

Peter Washington is one of the most in demand and recorded bassists in modern jazz, with a discography of over 400 recordings. Born in Los Angeles, Washington played classical bass as a teen and majored in English Literature at U.C. 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 thirteen 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 2008, Washington became 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 U.S. in 2009.

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 the past thirteen years and has performed and recorded with dozens of major artists, giving him a discography of hundreds of 6tles. 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 has also been a disc jockey on WBGO and Sirius satellite jazz radio. He currently serves on the faculties of Purchase College, State University of New York and The Juilliard School, teaching drums and jazz history.