Like Family
By Greg Thomas (NY Daily News)
Since their first recording together 13 years ago, pianist Bill Charlap, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington have become one of the top trios in jazz.
"When I hear our first recording 'All Through the Night,' it sounds like a band right away," Charlap says. "I remember thinking wow, this has such a great, natural feeling, like we'd been playing together for years. It has only gotten deeper since."
The apprenticeship each experienced before coming together also helps the trio click. They headline this week at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
To name a few, Charlap has worked with Tony Bennett, Wynton Marsalis and saxophonists Phil Woods and Gerry Mulligan. Bassist Peter Washington has performed with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers as well as pianist Tommy Flanagan in an acclaimed trio.
Kenny Washington was born in Staten Island and lives in Brooklyn. Along with his drumming prowess, he's known for his vast record collection. He began performing professionally in the late 1970s with legendary musicians such as Lee Konitz, Betty Carter, Johnny Griffin and Benny Carter.
"We all loved the same kinds of jazz records and have the same basic idea of how a trio should sound," explains Kenny. "And you certainly have to like each other — and we do."
The quality of their chemistry can be found on "The Bill Charlap Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard," a recording nominated for a Grammy award. When asked to describe what makes their trio work, Charlap focuses on his band mates.
"They're great listeners and virtuosos on their instruments. They both give great attention to subtlety and detail. They know the history of the music yet sound like themselves," he says.
"They both are committed to making a beautiful and nuanced sound on their respective instruments. Yet with all the virtuosity and music at their command, they never put their egos in front of the music."
The same holds true for Charlap, according to Kenny: "As a leader, Bill's democratic. I have free rein; he always hears me out."
Charlap began playing piano at 3, studied European classical music, and comes from a musical family of note. His father, Broadway composer Moose Charlap, wrote the music to "Peter Pan." Singer Sandy Stewart, his mother, appeared on the Ed Sullivan and Perry Como shows. (In 2005 Charlap and Stewart released the acclaimed "Love Is Here To Stay.")
Similar to Bill Evans, Charlap has a soft touch and deep harmonic range on the piano. In a trio, Charlap says, "you can play very polyphonically — more than one note at a time; I can play with ten fingers, and even more with the pedals. Or you can be very orchestral or like a singer. You can also be like a drummer.
"You can orchestrate but also play time, and also give counterpoint — another melody in the bass line, perhaps, against what Peter is doing. And then hook up with the drums in a way that they go hand-in-hand."
On stage, their groove seems telepathic. But their relationships go beyond the music, says Kenny Washington.
"The band is like a family, especially going on the road," he says. "One time Peter and I hadn't seen each other for a long time and we had a 13-hour trip to Japan. We took a few cat naps, but mostly we talked for about 10 hours, and before you knew it, we were there! All that adds to the music."
The relationship between the drummer and bassist in a trio is especially important.
Charlap describes that rapport as "hand-in-glove ... To make it really work, first and foremost the bass and the drums have to lean into each other to make it sound and feel like one."
The two Washingtons aren't related by blood, yet according to Kenny, "Peter's my heart. He was the best man at my wedding. He's seen me at my best and at my worst. Drummer Billy Higgins said to me that if you can meet just one bass player that you can hook up with, you're lucky.
"He plays the right note at the right time and length. When we first played together, we automatically hooked-up."
No band or jazz arrangement will sound good without an excellent drummer. Charlap says Kenny's "got that fire, that intensity, but also the sensitivity to the dynamics. There's a great dynamic range to the way he orchestrates on the trap drum set, a uniquely American instrument."
Yet no matter their individual roles and talents, each agrees that the ensemble, the group, is what's most crucial.
"All of our roles intertwine and change all the time," says Charlap. "I remember one time listening to Phil Woods. He was rehearsing a big band, and not everything was falling together, not clicking. He stopped the band and said: ‘Everybody's gotta be a drummer.'
"That's right. Everybody's got to be rhythmically loose and rhythmically accurate at the same time. Everyone's responsible for the bounce and the swing. Everybody's also an orchestrator, an instant arranger of sorts.
"That's another piece that makes this particular trio very satisfying for me, that Kenny and Peter both listen in that way, and think and contribute to our arrangements. When it all works right, it's like Ellington said: floating on a turquoise cloud."(03/22/2011)
