Bill Charlap Week at the Jazz Standard - New York City Article

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In the aftermath of his 50th birthday in October, the redoubtable pianist offers a week of different line-ups that showcase the widely diverse sides of his musical personality, all of which are both abundantly swinging and transcendently lyrical. Thursday and Friday (January 12 and 13), he teams with his professional and personal partner, the equally formidable Renee Rosnes, in a set of four-handed two piano duos (as represented in their 2010 album “The Double Portrait”), and on Saturday and Sunday he presents his outstanding, high-flying, long-running trio, with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington – joined by guest stars singer Freddy Cole and tenor saxophonist Houston Person on Saturday. On Tuesday, he enjoined in a remarkable duet with the veteran jazz singer Carol Sloane, in a program of standards delivered with the same kind of transparent honesty that politicians are always promising. Sometimes the titles are taken literally, others not: Mr. Charlap played his solo feature, “On a Clear Day,” with perfect clarity, but contrastingly, their “Getting Sentimental Over You” was delivered with romance, warmth, and anything but mere sentiment.