Stardust
With his elegant lyric sensibility and use of classic harmonics, which might best be characterized as equal partsHank JonesandBill Evans, pianist Bill Charlap manages to suggest something at once timeless and modern in his approach to jazz piano. And while references to past and present masters of the keyboard abound in this recital ofHoagy Carmichaelcompositions (as in his tasty appropriation of Evans's tolling intro to "Some Other Time" on a poignant reading of "The Nearness of You," or his interpolation of Red Garland's "Billy Boy" as a prelude to "I Walk with Music"), Charlap manages to evoke the dreamy, unhurried character redolent of so much of Carmichael's music, while maintaining his own probing, crystalline presence. Thus, while a briskly swinging jaunt through "Jubilee" finds him navigating an equestrian set of changes in a round-robin romp with his exceptionally empathetic rhythm mates (bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington), his sultry flirting with tenoristFrank Wesson "Blue Orchids" and his lofty harmonic byplay with guitaristJim Hallreveal a musician wise beyond his years--restrained and relaxed and confident enough not to hide behind a fusillade of empty notes. Such maturity is part of what makes his storytelling accompaniments behind master vocalistsTony BennettandShirley Horn--and a breathtakingly slow, humid trio treatment of "Georgia"--so richly rewarding.--Chip Stern