BILL CHARLAP TRIO
Jazz at the Maverick

Grammy award-winning pianist Bill Charlap has performed with many of the leading artists of our time, including Phil Woods, Tony Bennett, Gerry Mulligan, Wynton Marsalis, Freddy Cole, and Houston Person. Born in New York City, Charlap began playing the piano at age three. His father was Broadway composer Moose Charlap, whose credits include Peter Pan. His mother is singer Sandy Stewart, who toured with Benny Goodman and was a regular on the Perry Como show. She earned a 1963 Grammy nomination for her recording of “My Coloring Book.” In 2005, Charlap and Stewart released the acclaimed CD “Love Is Here to Stay” (Blue Note).

In 1997, Charlap formed his trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, now recognized as one of the leading jazz groups. In 2000, he was signed to Blue Note Records and received two Grammy Award nominations, for Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein and The Bill Charlap Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard. He is known for his interpretations of American popular song. Time magazine wrote, “Bill Charlap approaches a song the way a lover approaches his beloved … no matter how imaginative or surprising his take on a song is, he invariably zeroes in on its essence.” In 2016, Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap: The Silver Lining, The Songs of Jerome Kern, was awarded a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Album. In 2024, the Bill Charlap Trio released And Then Again (Blue Note Records), their second live recording from the legendary Village Vanguard club. In June 2025, vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap released “Elemental,” their debut duet album on Mack Avenue Records.

From 2004 through 2023, Charlap was Artistic Director of New York City’s Jazz in July Festival at 92NY. In addition to his work at 92NY, he has produced concerts for Jazz at Lincoln Center, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Chicago Symphony Center, and the Hollywood Bowl. He is married to renowned jazz pianist and composer Renee Rosnes, with whom he often collaborates in a duo piano setting; in 2010, Charlap and Rosnes released Double Portrait (Blue Note). Currently, Bill Charlap serves as Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey.