Search - The Bill Charlap Trio :: Live at the Village Vanguard

A Great Snapshot of an Excellent Trio

Buddy Bolden | USA | 05/31/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After many years of widespread acclaim as one of the best working groups in mainstream jazz, the Bill Charlap Trio has finally issued its first live recording, and the results are most impressive. Individually, the group's members are all virtuoso musicians of the highest caliber, and in any setting they can be counted upon to deliver vivid, engaging performances (see for example Charlap's collaborations with Warren Vaché and Peter Washington's work with the great Tommy Flanagan). However, when they play together their rapport is so strong that each seems to bring out the best in the others, and even on the trio's studio recordings they sometimes attain a level of controlled intensity that is downright mesmerizing, both on uptempo numbers and on slow ballads. Here, they reach that level again and again, and the interplay among them is consistently thrilling; each plays with great energy and creativity, but also with great precision, and they are so perfectly attuned to one another that when they improvise together they do so with a degree of cohesion and unity that is nothing short of astonishing. ("My Shining Hour" provides an especially good example of this.) Their own enjoyment of what they can do is both palpable and infectious, and while they never indulge in the kind of showboating that sometimes mars live recordings, the presence of an attentive and appreciative audience does seem to inspire them. The sounds made by that audience are not the least bit obtrusive, but their applause helps to create a pleasant atmosphere of immediacy, as does the immaculate sound achieved by engineer Joel Moss. The disc is also nicely programmed, though there are fewer rarities than one might expect given Charlap's extensive knowledge of the American songbook and his penchant for reintroducing overlooked but worthy material.



In all, this is a most welcome document of an exceptional group in action. It is also long overdue, so let's hope that volume two will follow in short order!"

4 ½ stars

S. Gough | New Jersey USA | 06/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From Charlap's solo choruses in "Rocker," at once burning hot and supremely cool, to the wistful "Last Night While We Were Young," this is an absorbing and sometimes startlingly good record. Although it doesn't seem right that Charlap tends to get most of the attention - i.e. the focus on Charlap in interviews about the trio's work, his lone cover photo here, and some critics' annoying habit of dubbing the unrelated bassist and drummer "the two Washingtons"- he really is a fine player. His solos are consistently interesting and invigorating; his technique is impressive; and how about the way he uses the piano? Even if one may grow weary of a certain right hand tremolo/trill effect as transitional device, Charlap's quiet but hip comping, use of lower registers, piano-rattling glissandi, and superimposition of left hand and right hand are extremely effective and rather unique. So too are his undulating lines, at once muted and strong, and his enviable ability to create a translucent, ethereal musical space. It is for these reasons that "Autumn in New York" garnered such a reverent response from the Vanguard audience - and "My Shining Hour" such a raucous one.



Speaking of "My Shining Hour," let me not be guilty of the same Charlap-centered commentary I lamented earlier. As the liner notes point out, "the incandescent playing captured here is made possible by trust," a trust which in turn is only possible thanks to the rock-solid foundation provided by Peter Washington on bass and the combustible energy released by Kenny Washington on drums. Although I feel that Peter has not yet been ideally captured on recording, it is quite evident from this album and others that Kenny sets the fire under the band and leads them to "Shining Hour" heights. The very swinging feel of a potentially square tune like "Rocker" and potentially static arrangement of "While We're Young," as well as "Last Night While We Were Young's" magical coda, owe much to Kenny's fire, too.



It should be no surprise, then, that numbers like "Lady is a Tramp" cook when the Charlap Trio plays `em, and ballad arrangements like "All Across the City" are so good they almost hurt. But "While We're Young" also provides indisputable proof that this group can play in 3. So let's hear some more waltzes, and more of that glorious ebb and flow that another pianist named Bill inspired at the same Village Vanguard :) How about more bass and drum solos too?!? (come now, 2 bass solos and 1 drum solo really are not enough for a whole album). Then, consider the possibilities of straight 8, Latin, funk, mixed meter...you know these guys can do it. To me, this would make a visit to see them at the Vanguard or Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola that much more memorable - and their group that much better.

"

I was there! This is THE Bill Charlap album to get

Guy S. Wiggins | New York CIty | 04/27/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First off, I had the great good fortune to actually be in attendance that week at the Vanguard when they were recording the music that eventually became this album. I had heard that Charlap was a must see artist and I was not disappointed. It was an extraordinary trio and I remember being absolutely blown away by the swing, the musicality and the rapport this trio had. I've been seeing jazz for many years and it was without a doubt one of the best trios I had ever seen.



Immediately afterwards, I logged onto to Amazon and purchased several Charlap albums including the Bernstein Album and Stardust. They are both fine albums but they did not send me in the way that the music I heard at the Vanguard did and I did not think they captured the groove these guys were able to hit when I saw them live. Frankly, I was a bit disappointed.



So you can imagine how thrilled I was when this album came out. And indeed, it magically brings back to life the incredible music I saw that night. I can say without a doubt that every track is superb and it has quickly become one of my all time favorite jazz albums. I've listened to it at least 100 times now and I simply don't get tired of it. This is a classic jazz trio at the pinacle of the form. If you want to discover what Charlap and his trio is all about, this is the album to get."