92nd Street Y Announces Line-Up

TICKETS + INFORMATION: www.92Y.org/Jazz or 212.415.5500

This annual summer jazz festival, directed by pianist and Blue Note recording artist Bill Charlap, brings together some of the world’s best jazz musicians for once-in-a-lifetime performances at the 92nd Street Y. Recent festival shows have explored be-bop and Latin jazz; celebrated living jazz legends Jim Hall, James Moody and former artistic director Dick Hyman; and sampled the work of great composers, from Cole Porter to Thelonious Monk. Recent line-ups have featured jazz greats Ray Bryant, Barry Harris, Wynton Marsalis, Eddie Palmieri, Trio Da Paz, and Frank Wess. For more information, please visit www.92Y.org/jazz.

 ABOUT THE 92nd STREET Y

Founded in 1874 by a group of visionary Jewish leaders, the 92nd Street Y has grown into a wide-ranging cultural, educational and community center serving people of all ages, races, faiths and backgrounds – about 300,000 people annually. For more information about the Y’s programs, visit www.92Y.org.

By: Stephanie Simon

Premier pianists Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes may play together the Frank Loesser standard, “Never Will I Marry,” but in fact they are happily married. Until recently, they were not sure when they would ever get to record together.

"We’ve been married since 2007 and we wanted to make an album together and it finally came together last December," says Rosnes. "It’s kind of a dream come true for the two of us."

Their new CD is called “Double Portrait,” and the duo recently played some selections for NY1 at Steinway Hall on West 57th Street. Perhaps it is no surprise that they seem especially in tune with each other.

"It’s not like two pianists playing together. In a sense, it’s almost like both of us become this new entity -- four hands at two pianos becomes kind of a new pianist amalgamation of both of us," says Charlap.

"I feel like I can kind of do anything on the piano and Bill will get my back and Bill will be there to support me," says Rosnes.

With two successful jazz players in one household, how do they keep the harmony when collaborating?

"I think that the deepest challenge about being married and working together is finding the time to rehearse. Finding the time to get things together, because we are always on the move," says Charlap. "We have three children and both of us have busy careers playing as leaders of our own groups and other people's."

In addition to their new CD, this duo has a gig coming up on July 28 at the 92nd Street Y, as part of the Y’s "Jazz In July" series.

There are definitely no dueling pianos in this duo, but who decides who plays which piano?

"Whichever piano Renee wants to play first. Ladies first, you know," says Charlap.

This couple seems to know the secret to a good marriage, musically and otherwise.

 
 
Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes' Double Portraits is a new album of piano duets featuring American popular music and more.
 
Renee Rosnes and Bill Charlap were already powerhouse pianists when they were married three years ago in The Jazz Club at Lincoln Center in New York. Now, the couple has released a new album of duets titled Double Portrait.

The record draws from the American songbook, as well as some less covered jazz standards, including pieces by Wayne Shorter, Gerry Mulligan and Joe Henderson. Also included is "Double Rainbow" by Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim.

"There's something about the lyricism, romanticism and beautiful rhythmic energy of Brazilian music that really speaks to us," Charlap says.

Charlap comes from a musical family. His mother was a cabaret singer who still performs today, and his late father, Moose Charlap, wrote songs for musicals, working with peers such as the great Frank Loesser and writing some classics of his own, including Peter Pan on Broadway. Charlap brings his love of American popular music to Double Portrait.

The last track on the album is a Frank Loesser song called "Never Will I Marry." Rosnes says the piece seemed to click for both of them. Her husband agrees.

"Of course, the title is a little bit ironic," Charlap says. "[O]f course, we're married, and that piece of humor didn't get past us, but really we love this song."

A Couple's Chemistry

Rosnes' original composition, called "The Saros Cycle," also appears on Double Portrait. She says she wrote it with two pianos in mind, and that the title, inspired by her passion for astronomy, came to her later.

"The melody has a very cyclical feel to it, almost an expansive sound," she says. "I was looking for a title that reflected something in the cosmos and came across the Saros Cycle, which refers to the cycle of eclipses."

Charlap says he loves playing the song with his wife.

"It's so connected in terms of the melody and the harmony," he says. "They're so welded together, and there's such an organic feel to it. It feels so expansive, and when we play on this together, we really improvise at the same time."

Charlap says the initial chemistry from when they first started collaborating is still there.

"When we're playing two pianos ... it's not me playing and Renee playing, but the two of us creating something where the whole is greater than its parts," he says. "It's almost like a new entity that is the sum of both of us playing."

At home, husband and wife juggle three energetic children and try to squeeze in time together at their two Steinway pianos. Rosnes says they end up spending more time playing solo, but that they don't mind because it helps preserve the spontaneity of their live performances.

"He inspires me," she says. "So when we play together, I automatically have a sense of inspiration, which is great, because it helps make the music jell and have spontaneity and feel good. I think I'm always learning, and always will be."

Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes, two of the premiere pianists in jazz, and also husband and wife, have joined forces to record their first collaborative album, Double Portrait, which will be released June 8 on EMI’s Blue Note Records. The duo has revealed the album’s cover artwork, which is Russian-French artist Marc Chagall’s classic painting “Over the Town.” Double Portrait is a sparkling set of four-hand piano duets that traverses many of the couple’s musical touchstones including the great Jazz composers (Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson), Great American Songbook composers (George & Ira Gershwin, Frank Loesser), and one of Rosnes’ own striking original compositions.

Charlap and Rosnes have also announced their upcoming tour dates, which include individual performances with their respective bands, as well as duo performances throughout the United States and Canada. As a duo, the couple will kick off a run of dates in Minneapolis on June 3 before traveling to San Francisco for a special evening at SF Jazz.

In New York, Charlap & Rosnes will perform two selections on July 28 as part of the “Postcard from Brazil” concert during the Jazz In July Festival at the 92nd Street Y. This is the sixth year for Charlap as Jazz in July’s Artist Director. The festival runs from July 20-29, and the full line-up can be found at www.92Y.org/Jazz.

BILL CHARLAP & RENEE ROSNES – 2010 TOUR DATES (*duo performances)

May 5-8 – The Dirty Dog Jazz Café – Grosse Pte Farms, MI (Bill Charlap Trio)

May 14-15 – Jazz At Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall “Intuition: The Music of Bill Evans) – New York, NY (Bill Charlap, music director)

May 22 – Copenhagen Jazzhouse – Copenhagen, Denmark (Renee Rosnes Trio)

May 23 – Fulsgang Herregaard – Nystad, Denmark (Renee Rosnes Trio)

May 25 – Holbaek Jazz Club – Holbaek, Denmark (Renee Rosnes Trio)

*June 3 – Dakota Jazz Club – Minneapolis, MN (Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes)

*June 4 – Herbst Theatre – San Francisco, CA (Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes)

*June 6 – Bellevue Jazz Festival – Bellevue, WA (Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes)

*June 25 – Vancouver International Jazz Festival – Vancouver, BC, Canada (Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes)

*June 26 – Victoria International JazzFest – Victoria, BC, Canada (Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes)

*June 28 – Jazz Winnipeg Festival – Winnipeg, MB, Canada (Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes)

*June 29 – Saskatchewan Jazz Festival – Saskatoon, SK, Canada (Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes)

July 1 – Estoril Jazz Festival – Estoril, Portugal (Renee Rosnes Quartet)

*July 6 – Zankel Music Center @ Skidmore College – Saratoga, NY (Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes)

*July 28 – Jazz In July @ 92nd St Y “Postcard from Brazil” – New York, NY (Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes)

Aug. 8 – Shalin Liu Performance Center – Rockport, MA (Bill Charlap Trio)

Aug. 14 – Windham Chamber Music Festival – Windham, NY (Bill Charlap Trio)

Sept. 14-19 – Village Vanguard – New York, NY (Renee Rosnes Quartet)

Oct. 4 – Kuumbwa Jazz Club – Santa Cruz, CA (Renee Rosnes Quartet)

Oct. 5-6 – Yoshi's – Oakland, CA (Renee Rosnes Quartet)

Oct. 8-9 – The Cellar – Vancouver, BC, Canada (Renee Rosnes Quartet)

Oct. 12-24 – Village Vanguard – New York, NY (Bill Charlap Trio)

Nov. 14 – Chicago Humanities Festival – Chicago, IL (Bill Charlap & Sandy Stewart)

Nov. 16-21 – Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola – New York, NY (Renee Rosnes Quintet)

Dec. 11– Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Rogers Auditorium – New York, NY (Bill Charlap & Sandy Stewart)