Charlap Plays Strayhorn

There's an age old saying that applies to countless situations: Get the right tools for the right job. When assembling the pieces of the weeklong Billy Strayhorn salute in Dayton, booking Bill Charlap's trio made perfect sense. To take nothing away from other supreme interpreters of Strayhorn's music at the keyboard (Fred Hersch, Marian McPartland, John Bunch, Andy Bey and a half-dozen others spring immediately to mind) Charlap's enthusiasm for the task at hand is undeniable. One peek at his curatorial work at the 92nd St.Y series in New York--which continues to carve thoughtfully considered tributes to America's greatest songsmiths--the acclaimed composer-themed CDs his trio has done for Blue Note Records or his appearance in Robert Levi's Strayhorn documentary Lush Life and you find an authoritative pianist who also happens to be an authority on the great canon of American popular song.

For this Saturday's performance with his longtime trio, which includes bassist Peter Washington and Kenny Washington, Charlap will roll out a mix of both better known tunes and obscure nuggets from the vast trove of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington compositions. As Downbeat Magazine describes this band, “...this trio is best at casting spells. There is a magic peculiar to piano trios; the coming into being of an inner-directed world within a triangle upon which the listener eavesdrops, an atmosphere so rapt that even up-tempo pieces feel like ballads.”

With one of the best and busiest of current piano trios in jazz kicking off Celebrating Billy Strayhorn, the music Saturday night promises to be special.

[Photo by Carol Friedman]