98 | SEPTEMBER 26 • 2024
J
N
P
iano music fills the home of Bill Charlap
and wife Renee Rosnes, both concert
instrumentalists. Each has a Steinway
placed in the living room.
Part of their dual performing talents moves
into East Lansing on the evening of Oct. 4, when
Charlap takes the stage with singer and actress
Dee Dee Bridgewater. It will be one of their many
shows together; both are Grammy Award winners.
“Dee Dee and I have been playing in duet for
a number of years,” said Charlap, who has per-
formed over his career at Michigan venues, includ-
ing Orchestra Hall in Detroit, Hill Auditorium in
Ann Arbor and a stage presented at the annual
Detroit Jazz Festival.
“Everything that Dee Dee and I do is very
spontaneous and very extemporaneous. It draws
on everything we are individually and together.
There’s wonderful chemistry between the two of us
in terms of running the emotional gamut with the
way we try to express ourselves musically.
“Dee Dee is a brilliant musician and a great
singer in control of her instrument,” he says. “She’s
also a great jazz improviser, a great interpreter of
a song, a great storyteller, a great actor and a great
person of the theater.”
While Charlap does not yet know what num-
bers the two will be presenting, it is likely to be
a concert that includes songs written by George
Gershwin and Duke Ellington. It is expected that
some numbers will be known very well by audi-
ences and some numbers will be known less well.
Songs written for Broadway by his late father,
Morris “Moose” Charlap, also could be on the
program. Those include songs written for Peter
Pan, The Conquering Hero and Alice Through the
Looking Glass.
Charlap said he picks a repertoire of songs that
tell stories and are from the canon of the great
songwriters and jazz writers.
“The piano has always been central in my life,”
said Charlap, whose Jewish heritage can be traced
through his dad. “I watched my father play and
express himself, and I never felt a division between
myself and the mechanics of the instrument. I was
lucky to have that sort of blessing.”
What attracts Charlap to jazz is the expression
of the individual, the sound of the blues, the vocal
quality, the rhythmic quality and the dimension
that the music speaks with innovations from
improvised music.
Charlap has performed with his mom, television
and recording singer Sandy Stewart. He also teach-
es and is the director of jazz studies at William
Paterson University in New Jersey.
The pianist, who just finished a two-week run at
the Village Vanguard in New York City, has recent-
ly released a new recording titled And Then Again.
He prepared that recording with other members of
the Bill Charlap Trio, which includes bassist Peter
Washington and drummer Kenny Washington.
Among the featured songs are “Sometimes I’m
Happy” and “
All the Things You Are.”
The visiting musician, who has been perform-
ing for about 30 years, has made close to 20
record albums, including the Grammy-nominated
Somewhere: Songs of Leonard Bernstein. Traveling
to stages around the world, the pianist got to know
his wife during concerts in Japan, and he appeared
at a music festival in Israel.
While his two daughters have not chosen
entertainment careers, his stepson has. Dylan
Drummond is a guitarist and songwriter the pia-
nist defines as performing “stone cold rock.”
With time off from traveling, Charlap likes to
watch Gene Wilder films and read.
Preparing for travel to Michigan, he says he is
looking forward to the stage experiences with Dee
Dee Bridgewater.
“I love Michigan,” he said. “It’s a very hip part
of the world with very intelligent and artistically
thinking people. With Dee Dee, chemistry makes
us blend together. It happens naturally like the
table of elements.
“We had the chemistry from the first second
we played together. I’ve had that with Kenny
Washington and Peter Washington and, of course,
with my wife, Renee.
“Generally, it happens right away, or it doesn’t
happen at all. You can’t invent it or make it hap-
pen. You have more and more trust and more and
more risk within the connection. There’s so much
dimension between what happens with the two of
us that it becomes a very exhilarating experience
for me — and I think for the audience.”
Details
Bill Charlap and Dee Dee Bridgewater will
perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, at the
Pasant Theatre in East Lansing. $19-$42.
(800) WHARTON. whartoncenter.com.
COURTESY BILL CHARLAP
ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC
Bill Charlap performs on
stage with singer/actress
Dee Dee Bridgewater.
SUZANNE CHESSLER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Pianist Bill Charlap and singer
Dee Dee Bridgewater to offer jazz
performance in East Lansing.