Including Philadelphia Debuts of Critically-Acclaimed Pianists Bill Charlap and Jason Moran, Renowned Polish Trumpeter Tomasz Stanko; and the Triumphant Return of Legendary Jazz Pianist, Marian McPartland
OCTOBER 18: BILL CHARLAP AT THE PHILA MUSEUM OF ART
Benjamin Franklin Parkway and 26th Street. 5pm - 8:45pm. $10, museum members free.
For more information, call (215) 684-7506 or log onto http://www.philamuseum.org
Bill Charlap, piano; Peter Washington, bass; and Kenny Washington, drums.
Bill Charlap's dazzling piano performances have received rave notices from virtually every major critic writing about the music today. When he plays a melody (and he knows more of them than any 35-year-old has a right to know), he makes the Great American Songbook sound fresh and new. His improvisations are ceaselessly inventive as well. The New York Times praises, Charlap “is clear, balanced, precise, tasteful, hard-swinging. He can prompt thoughts about a time, about four and a half decades ago, when melody was paramount and rhythm sections restrained."
Charlap's latest Blue Note release, Stardust, is a loving reconsideration of the music of Hoagy Carmichael. It is symmetry born from purity of purpose, illumined at one end by the timelessness of Carmichael's Americana, then asserted at the other by the clarity of Charlap's touch. Over the years, as Stardust attests, Charlap has emerged a gifted heir to the distinguished pianists who gave definition to jazz's soundscape. One readily hears in him a host of influences, beginning with the stride masters and running up through the modernists; hints of Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan and Jimmy Rowles echo in his play.
NOVEMBER 1: MARIAN MCPARTLAND TRIO AT THE PA CONVENTION CENTER
13th & Cherry Streets, Auditorium. 8pm, $20
For information, call (215) 569-8080 or log onto http://www.philadelphiachambermusic.org
Marian McPartland, piano; Gary Mazzaroppi, bass; and Glenn Davis, drums
The multi-faceted pianist Marian McPartland has appeared on the concert stage, at college and university campuses, in festivals, with symphony orchestras, in night clubs, on radio, television and in recordings. She is the recipient of many awards, most notably the prestigious Peabody Award, Downbeat's Lifetime Achievement Award, and the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for her National Public Radio show, Piano Jazz. Celebrating its 22nd season, Ms. McPartland's Piano Jazz continues to present today's leading jazz artists. Among her distinguished guests have been Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea, and Wynton Marsalis.
Her distinctive piano sound incorporates the history of the music and her delightful touch, fearless technique and encyclopedic grasp of the repertoire are unmatchable. Passionate humor and a joyful exuberance for the art of improvisation infuses her latest Concord Records release, the inspired Live At Shanghai Jazz, which was recorded live at David and Martha Niu's Chinese restaurant in Madison, New Jersey. McPartland is joined on Live At Shanghai Jazz by long-time musical co-horts, drummer Joe Morello and bassist Rufus Reid. With three such accomplished luminaries onstage, it's no surprise they treated the recording session much as they would a regular gig. “Rufus and Joe know so many tunes, so we just called out whatever we felt like playing," she says. “No rehearsals, old-school style - relaxed in every way."
NOVEMBER 2: TOMASZ STANKO QUARTET AT TRITONE
1508 South Street. 8pm-10pm, $15
For information call (215) 545-0475 or log onto http://www.arsnovaworkshop.com
Tomasz Stanko, trumpet; Marcin Wasilewski, piano; Slawomir Kurkiewicz, double-bass; and Michal Miskiewicz, drums.
In support of his latest ECM Records project, Soul of Things, Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko is set to embark on an ambitious maiden voyage journey across America for the first time in his illustrious 40-year career. The eight-city tour, which begins in Philadelphia at Tritone, will include Stanko's working band featured on the current album that Larry Appelbaum of JazzTimes magazine exclaimed as “beautifully rhapsodic with free-floating melodies that highlight Stanko's big, dreamy sound. If only my dreams sounded like this."
Part of the freshness and individuality of the quartet derives from their deep knowledge of Stanko's history. It would be difficult to overestimate his standing in the Polish jazz community. The 60-year-old Stanko has been its central figure, firmly ensconced behind the
For more information contact All About Jazz.
