GRAMMY® award-winning pianist Bill Charlap has performed with many of the leading artists of our time including Phil Woods, Tony Bennett, Gerry Mulligan, Wynton Marsalis, Freddy Cole and Houston Person. Born in New York City, Bill began playing the piano at age three. His father was Broadway composer Moose Charlap, and his mother is singer Sandy Stewart, who toured with Benny Goodman, and was a regular on The Perry Como Show.
In 1997, Bill formed his trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, now recognized as one of the leading groups in jazz. In 2000, he was signed to Blue Note Records and received two GRAMMY® Award nominations, for Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein and The Bill Charlap Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard. He is known for his interpretations of American popular song. In 2016, Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap: The Silver Lining, The Songs of Jerome Kern, was awarded a GRAMMY® for Best Traditional Pop Album.
For 20 years, Bill worked as Artistic Director of New York City’s Jazz in July Festival at 92Y. He has produced concerts for Jazz at Lincoln Center, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Chicago Symphony Center and the Hollywood Bowl. Bill is married to renowned jazz pianist and composer Renee Rosnes, and the two artists often collaborate in a duo piano setting. In 2010, Charlap and Rosnes released Double Portrait (Blue Note). Bill is currently the Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey.