BILL CHARLAP TRIO
Live at the Village Vanguard
Blue Note
Read
the Jazzitude review of Bill Charlap/Somewhere: Songs
of Leonard Bernstein
Bill Charlap and the Village Vanguard are
both venerable institutions by now. Charlap, who first stepped
forward as a leader in 2000, has become the champion of
the traditional jazz piano trio. Charlap’s piano is
at the heart of his trio, even though bassist Peter Washington
and drummer Kenny Washington provide priceless support and
rev up good solo work of their own. It is not a trio that
seeks to make each voice independently important, as became
the model following Bill Evans’ groundbreaking trio.
And recording live at the Vanguard has become a rite of
passage for jazz performers at elast since the Evans set
and an equally legendary set by Coltrane. All kinds of great
musicians have released sets recorded there: McCoy Tyner,
Tom Harrell, Sonny Rollins, The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big
Band, Joe Lovano, Woody Shaw, Shirley Horn, Fred Hersch,
and more. Now Charlap releases his Vanguard set, and it
is a reminder both of what sets Charlap apart from many
of his contemporaries as well as of how easy it is to take
his effortless yet passionate playing for granted.
The trio opens with the controlled, understated,
yet supremely swinging Gerry Mulligan composition “Rocker,”
and Charlap is able to suggest the typical Mulligan/Gil
Evans-style harmonies with his chord voicings. It’s
an infectious performance that pulls the listener in immediately.
Followed by a gorgeous rendition of Vernon Duke’s
venerable “Autumn In New York,” we hear immediately
what Charlap is renowned for: an ability to play the most
well-worn standards with an authority and grace that makes
them his. The trio’s performance has both the warmth
of an early autumn Sunday afternoon and the long shadows
of the approaching winter. It’s the kind of thing
you can truly appreciate holed up in your city apartment
on a Sunday morning with the Sunday Times, plenty of hot
coffee, a loved one, and maybe a couple of cats nestled
in the bosom of autumn.
Charlap takes us back into the swinging heyday
of 52nd Street with George Wallington’s “Godchild,”
a swinging bop number and a Bud Powell-esque intro to a
romp through “The Lady Is a Tramp.” A surprisingly
slow but really pretty “It’s Only A Paper Moon”
ushers in Charlap’s well-documented love affair with
the songs of Harold Arlen; other Arlen compositions represented
here include “My Shining Hour” and “Last
Night When We Were Young.” He also slips in Jim Hall’s
late night masterpiece “All Across the City.”
Unsurprisingly, Hall’s composition finds a completely
sympathetic performer in Charlap. Charlap has worked with
Hall before, and his understated sophistication is a perfect
match for Hall’s equally understated style.
Because Charlap works completely within the
confines of the traditional jazz piano trio style, it is
easy to take his playing for granted and think of him as
some kind of throwback to an earlier style. But Charlap
has honed his instrumental voice himself, just as Bill Evans
and subsequent pianists have done. Charlap’s chosen
style is merely a bit closer to the original voice than
some of his contemporaries, but it is no less original or
worthy of praise for that.
