INFORMATION FOR
Grammy Award-winning Pianist Bill Charlap, director of the William Paterson University jazz studies program, and his wife, Renee Rosnes, a renowned pianist/composer and current member of the Ron Carter Quartet, will perform as part of the University’s Jazz Room series on March 4, 2017, at 8 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on the campus in Wayne.
Prior to the concert, Charlap and Rosnes will be the guests for “Sittin’ In,” an informal discussion about jazz, at 7 p.m. in Shea Center Recital Hall 101. Tickets are available at the Shea Center Box Office in advance at 973.720.2371 or wp-presents.org or on the day of the performance at $15 general admission, $12 senior citizens and William Paterson community, and $8 for non-William Paterson students. William Paterson students are admitted free with a valid I.D. There is a $3 fee for tickets purchased on the day of the performance.
Considered one of the world’s premiere jazz pianists, Charlap has performed with many leading artists, ranging from Phil Woods and Tony Bennett to Gerry Mulligan and Wynton Marsalis. He is known for his interpretations of American popular songs and has recorded albums featuring the music of Hoagy Carmichael, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin. He serves as the artistic director of New York City’s Jazz in July Festival at the 92nd Street Y and has produced several concerts for Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Charlap is married to renowned jazz pianist Renee Rosnes, with whom he often collaborates in a duo piano setting. She has released a series of 14 albums, four of which received Juno Awards (the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy). Rosnes has also collaborated with Jack Dejohnette, tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, Christian McBride, Chris Potter, Nicholas Payton and Steve Nelson. Charlap and Rosnes will release a duo piano recording on the Blue Note label later this year.
Launched in 1978, the Jazz Room is one of the largest and most prestigious college-sponsored jazz events in the country. Performers include renowned professionals who encompass the complete spectrum of jazz, from practitioners of traditional jazz to avant-garde to bebop to swing to Afro-Latin jazz, as well as William Paterson’s own student ensembles. The series has won numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and more than 30 years of continuous support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for its innovative programming.
2/27/17
