Jazz Articles

NY Trio: Love You Madly

by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
December 14, 2003

This bouquet of Ellingtonia is superb, but then you'd expect nothing less from such a top-level trio. Bill Charlap, increasingly acknowledged as one of the best living pianists in jazz, has a unique touch; when he plays a ballad, as on “Sentimental Mood," he presses the keys so softly that the notes seem breathed, rather than struck. His swinging his crisp, his runs light and flawless, and he has a knack for finding the heart of a song – a ...