The Bill Charlap trio at Smoke 12 13 13 HD

[@darvisthebronzewarriordavi9477]

Bill Charlap is so awesome i honestly believe he is the best piano player on earth

[@darvisthebronzewarriordavi9477]

Too awesome

[@Soaptoaster]

I'm with you Darvis, I don't think anyone really appreciates his subtlety and nuance. Stroking the keys vs. pounding them. Soulful playing and conveying emotion. He's an authentic jazz man.

[@vova47]

You must be his mother or his agent.....(:))

[@ktowncapitalist]

Thanks for uploading this. Bill Charlap is so talented!

[@guyswiggins]

He really is. If I could, I'd become a groupie and just follow his trio around whereever they play. They are truly sublime when you hear them live. They have been playing together for 15+ years and it shows. They have a total mind meld and their jazz feel is transporting.

[@simonpaulhardy4392]

Nice to see Charlap push out a bit. he is wonderful on record but never haven seen him live its great to see how adventurous he is in concert. Wouldnt have predicted it. wonderful.

[@jimmy69476]

The song is Dream Dancing by Cole Porter. Bill has recorded it at least once, but typically of his choice of material, it is an overlooked and not often played gem. There is some real magic in this particular rendition and it differs quite a bit from the recorded version that I have heard. He seems especially loose, playful, and full of wonderful inflections, sudden surprises....This is truly some remarkable playing. At times he seems to "stretching" the melody, tempo, the harmonics--almost to the point of taking the song apart and tossing up all the parts in the sky like brilliant fireworks! And then miraculously they drift back to earth knit together in a new and startling fabric....There are very few pianists playing today with his incredibly sensitive touch, exquisite taste and restraint. And yes, the trio has been playing together for such a long time they are really like one instrument with their remarkable empathy. What a gift to be able to hear this level of creativity in a jazz piano trio. They are really something special.

[@guyswiggins]

+jim kennedy Wow, beautifully put! I feel exactly the same way. Listening to the trio is such an intense pleasure live - the swing, the touch, the feel, the beauty of the compositions all combine to always put me in a state of true catharsis. I have been listening to live jazz since I was at least 18 and I have never heard a pianist like him.

[@jimmy69476]

+Guy Wiggins Thanks for your kind comments! But thanks especially for putting up this remarkable video. ( I wish I could get the volume a little higher on my lousy computer.) The recorded version of this song by this trio that I have is on a CD entitled "All through the night" (on Criss Cross.) "Dream Dancing" is played with a brief introduction of "Dance Only With Me" --another underplayed treat. I might be wrong, but as far as I know this CD on Criss Cross is the first recording he made with this exact trio, (recorded in 1997.) That in itself is rather amazing when you hear how "together" the trio already sounds --18 years ago! George Shearing writes in the liner notes about the remarkable empathy of the trio in general, and the "elastic" nature of their treatment of the tempo in this song. No one ever loses where the tempo is, but so often it is only "implied"; and Charlap does this beautifully, both in the recording and in your clip--especially when he uses these wonderful arpeggiated (sp?) chords, kind of suspended in an impressionistic manner over the tempo, and then bang! With a snap he is right back in the swing of things, without ever having lost a beat. There are many jazz pianists out there with great technique, but very few who can play with his subtlety, restraint and touch. The clip you posted (obviously taken under the constraints that you were dealing with at the time), is a glimpse of some remarkable jazz improvisation. At this level of creativity and sophistication, it really is a very high art. I have only had the pleasure of seeing him once (in the Boston area). Unfortunately, Peter Washington was out that night, though it was still special. I think you caught him (maybe it was the club, the New York audience, the time of night) at a very relaxed moment; and it is pure magic to see how deeply he goes into this music...really special. Thanks again.

[@guyswiggins]

Beautifully expressed. Just saw the trio last night at the 92nd Street Y here in the Big Apple backing up the divine Cecile McClorin Salvant. A night of true jazz perfection!

[@vova47]

"Dream Dancing" (Cole Porter). Great tune! It's a total mismatch between pianist, who is cerebral, pseudo intellectual, non-swinging type and his rhythm section, who are among the hardest swinging players ever. On the second thoughts, maybe that's why he hires them - to make him appear swinging. It's not working for me, however.