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Bill Charlap Trio - Live at The Village Vanguard
Blue Note Records
While most people turn to the old mainstays like Barry
White and Marvin Gaye when choosing mood music to use while
seducing a loved one, I have always run a different course in
the love sounds department. In my personal experiences, smooth
jazz is what does the trick in the bedroom. Now, by smooth jazz,
I don't mean any of the dreck they play on those horrid "Quiet
Storm" shows or any of Wayman Tisdale's garbage jazz. I mean
great jazz with an emphasis on piano. Smooth, confident jazz
like Bill Charlap and his trio play when they are letting loose.
You might laugh, but I am dead serious - don't knock it
until you've tried it and have had the piano magic work it's
wonders on you and your partner. In fact, I'll give you an
example...a funny one, but an example nonetheless. I am a big
fan of MMA bouts on televison. For those who don't know what
that means, MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts which means the
combatants are allowed to kick as well as punch, and even get
their wrestle on (which I hate) as they try to subdue their
opponents by knockout or submission. Anyways, I am chilling at
my house with a few of my buddies and I stick some jazz CDs on
as we watch these bouts because none of us can stand the
announcing on these shows. As the fighters get their clinches
going and one of the fighters wrestles another on to the mat for
a little ground-and-pound, the piano jazz comes on. How
interesting and fitting it seemed as the soft piano music played
while the two combatants writhed on the floor trying to get the
upper hand so as to strike their opponent. Maybe a little too
fitting as we all looked at each other a little uneasily and
decided to put some Miles Davis in the stereo instead. Now if
jazz piano can make a serious fight seem like a romantic
coupling, it might do something for your own bedroom clinches.
Choke-outs not allowed, however.
A very weird but also very true story.
Back to the music.
This album, a rare live set from Charlap, was recorded in
New York City at The Village Vanguard which has always seemed to
be at the very center of the jazz world. It is a setting which
seems to suit Charlap well. Seeking to show his ability at
interpreting others' work by filling this album with covers,
Charlap acquits himself very well and manages to make songs by
Gerry Mulligan, Rodgers and Hart, and Arlen and Mercer sound as
if they were written for him. Along with the rest of his trio,
Peter Washington (bass) and Kenny Washington (drums), Charlap
manages to start strong with Mulligan's "Rocker" and increase
the intensity right up to the last cut, the standard "Last Night
When We were Young." In between these two songs are seven more
filled with the kind of sophisticated harmonic explorations and
melodic inventions of a player who has reached the apex of his
abilities. Charlap and his band show a tightness and a
confidence borne out of years of honing their talents to a fine
line. While much is going on, nothing is being overplayed or
overwrought. The essence is there and nothing more - to take
anything away would be a crime and to add anything would be a
waste. Though Charlap is not yet a huge name in the jazz world,
he has improved greatly over his time as a leader and if he
keeps making albums this good he is going to make a huge wave in
the jazz world in the next ten years or so. This is an album for
which a legend can be started.
Fans of piano jazz are going to love this record. Very
urbane and very well played, this music can serve as the
soundtrack to many things and goes down very easily. A great
jazz album for a Sunday morning/afternoon. - Scott Homewood
www.billcharlap.com
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