The Grammy award-nominated Bill Charlap Trio, one of the leading ensembles in jazz, will be performing at Flushing Town Hall on Friday, Jan. 14.
The Bill Charlap Trio, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2022, earned Grammy nominations for “Uptown Downtown” (Impulse!/Verve), “Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein” and “The Bill Charlap Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard” (both on the Blue Note label).
The trio’s most recent recording features them with Tony Bennett and Diana Krall on the chart-topping, Grammy-nominated “Love is Here to Stay.”
The group was formed in 1997, composed by Grammy-winning pianist and founder of the group, Bill Charlap; bassist Peter Washington; and drummer Kenny Washington.
Charlap, born in New York City, began playing the piano at age 3. Charlap has performed with many of the leading artists of our time, ranging from Phil Woods, Gerry Mulligan, Wynton Marsalis, Freddy Cole and Houston Person to singers Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand. He is known for his interpretations of American popular songs and has recorded albums featuring the music of Hoagy Carmichael, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin.
“Modest and low-key off the bandstand, at the piano he is voluble and intense … the pianist moved through an erudite selection of jazz and American Songbook standards … with masterful technique and a stylistic range that encompassed rollicking stride piano, bebop virtuosity and harmonically opulent modernism,” The New York Times said about Charlap.
Washington, born in Los Angeles, is one of the most in demand and recorded bassists in modern jazz, with a discography of over 400 recordings. During his time at U.C. Berkeley, he was invited by Art Blakey to join the Jazz Messengers in New York. From there, Washington became part of two of jazz’s most celebrated trios: the Tommy Flanagan Trio, and for the past 13 years, the Bill Charlap Trio.
Kenny, born in Brooklyn, has been a member of the Bill Charlap Trio for the past 13 years and has performed and recorded with dozens of major artists, giving him a discography of hundreds of titles. Washington is a noted jazz historian and radio personality; he has written liner notes and helped prepare re-releases by Art Blakey, Count Basie and others, and has also been a disc jockey on WBGO and Sirius satellite jazz radio.
The trio’s performance at the Flushing Hall will include some of their songs from their latest album, “Street of Dreams,” which was released in November.
The performance tickets will be available both in person (following the COVID-19 policy) for $25/$20 per member, and virtually for free on the Flushing Town Hall livestream.
