[Dixielandjazz] OKOM (Gershwin et al) still fills the venues

[Steve barbone]

Proof that OKOM still grabs the audience if it is done right. The 92 Street
Y has successfully presented Pre WW 2 jazz for more than 20 years. To sold
out audiences. Current admission? $45.

The music is STILL POWERFUL. How come others can't give it away?

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

Gershwin is Played and a Torch is Passed

By NATE CHINEN Published: July 21, 2005 NY TIMES

Bill Charlap faced unusually high expectations as he took the stage on
Tuesday night at the 92nd Street Y. It was his first appearance as artistic
director of Jazz in July, a concert series that thrived for 20 years under
the aegis of his fellow pianist and mentor Dick Hyman.

That Mr. Hyman, who is 78, hand-picked Mr. Charlap, who's approaching 40,
only heightened the anticipation; over the years, the series has been
steadfast both in tone (accessible erudition) and allegiance (traditional
jazz, meaning prewar), and most of its patrons would keep it that way. So
Mr. Charlap began this George Gershwin tribute, the first of six thematic
concerts, with a modest overture.

Together with his regular trio-mates, Peter Washington and Kenny Washington
on bass and drums, he played a brisk "Who Cares?," barely embellishing the
theme. 

The Gershwin angle helped Mr. Charlap considerably. The pianist has a new
album called "Bill Charlap Plays George Gershwin: The American Soul" (Blue
Note), and the depth of his preparation was evident. What's more, the
repertory perfectly suited this sold-out house; when Mr. Charlap introduced
the ballad "How Long Has This Been Going On?" an approving murmur rustled
through the room. The pianist justified this response by gently teasing out
the melody's natural dissonances and adding a subtly bluesy touch.

He applied similar techniques to another ballad, "Our Love Is Here to Stay,"
although in that case he was supporting the burnished vocals of his mother,
Sandy Stewart. ("Love Is Here to Stay" is the title of Mr. Charlap and Ms.
Stewart's duet record, which Blue Note will release in the fall.)

With a nod toward Gershwin's expansiveness, Mr. Charlap varied the concert's
musical settings, at times removing himself from the picture. For part of
the first half, he yielded the piano bench to Ted Rosenthal, whose
embroidery of "I Loves You Porgy" seemed almost rococo after his host's
plainspoken lyricism. Then Mr. Rosenthal and Mr. Charlap faced each other
onstage for some variations on "I Got Rhythm," rifling through jazz piano
styles in an idiomatic exercise that highlighted the absence of Mr. Hyman.

Fortunately, this was followed after intermission by some Gershwin
transcriptions performed by the concert pianist Eleonor Bindman, whom Mr.
Charlap introduced as a high school classmate. Ms. Bindman brought a light
precision to "Liza" - which had served as a showcase for the quicksilver
brushwork of Mr. Washington in the concert's first half - and then paired
off with Mr. Rosenthal on "Three Preludes for Piano." From offstage, Mr.
Charlap seemed to be reinforcing a silent point: that even the orchestrated
Gershwin is jazzy, with syncopation fluttering in the music's DNA.

Finally Mr. Charlap trotted out the horn arrangements from his album, as if
he'd been building up to them all along. His septet, featuring the
saxophonists Houston Person and Jon Gordon, the trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and
the trombonist Jim Pugh, breezed through a handful of tunes in a cool,
brightly boppish vein. The round robin of single-chorus solos didn't allow
for much stretching out, but it was plenty progressive for Jazz in July.
Closing with "Nice Work if You Can Get It" - an appropriate sentiment - Mr.
Charlap earned his applause.

Jazz in July continues next week with "Hoagy's Children," on Tuesday; "The
Front Line: Small Group Jazz of Horace Silver and Kenny Dorham," on
Wednesday; and "Unforgettable: Nat (King) Cole," on Thursday. Concerts are
at 8 p.m. at the 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500 or
www.92y.org, $45.