Bill Charlap Trio - And Then Again

 

Bill Charlap Trio's new Blue Note release

After 27 years and nearly 20 albums, it still bears repeating that Bill Charlap is one of the great jazz piano players, and that his trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington is one of the great working jazz groups of our day. But what does that mean, and why does it need reiterating?

It means everything that can be heard on the Bill Charlap Trio's new Blue Note release, And Then Again, recorded live at the Village Vanguard: The locked-in accord and extrasensory communication shared among the three musicians. The fleet yet diamond-sharp decision-making that happens bar after bar, tune after tune. The terra firma of the repertoire set against the improvised pluck of the arranging, and the many wonderful, unforgettable moments that ensue.

And ultimately, it means understanding that individualism within the tradition is paramount — the idea that only these three musicians with these three stories could ever produce this sound. Or, as the genial pianist puts it, simply and beautifully: "We play how we play, and we play the music we love."

"You want it to be real, coming from a place of truth."

Which brings us to what Charlap and his trio are not, despite decades of well-meaning yet misguided notions. They are not pedantic defenders of the curios of the Great American Songbook, or a cabaret act performing a certain strain of supper-club elegance. They are not preservationists for any particular landmark piano trio; rather, their lifelong enthusiasm for the entirety of jazz history is brought to bear in every performance. "I would say that there is no one model," Charlap explains, "and yet there are many models."

"I'm a jazz piano player," he adds later. "Yeah. I'm a jazz piano player."

In the discography of Charlap's group — its own micro-canon of piano-trio language and repertoire — And Then Again hits as especially open and intrepid. It was captured in one Saturday evening at the Village Vanguard, and it boasts a program of inspired familiarity. The set also serves to document the current state in the trio's continuing evolution, away from an outsize book of hundreds of tunes and charts, and toward a strategy where the setlist and the performances are as natural and intuitive as they can possibly be. Again, the interplay, spontaneity and identity are the takeaway — even if Charlap very obviously adores these tunes and their composers, and has lived this music.

 

Side A

1. And Then Again

2. All The Things You Are

3. 'Round Midnight

4. In Your Own Sweet Way

Side B

1. Darn That Dream

2. Sometimes I'm Happy

3. The Man I Love

4. (I Don't Stand) a Ghost of a Chance (With You)

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