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Haven't heard of Pandora but I will check it out! NPR has a huge archive of live jazz shows, so that is a favourite site.

Bill Charlap is pretty well known in the jazz world, and actually his wife is another great player, from my city too!

Her name is Renee Rosnes, she plays beautifully. They are doing duo concerts and coming up for the jazz festival.

Thanks Barb! You got me hooked on/into Pandora now!

As I was cooking dinner and listening to the Pandora station, I heard some fantastic playing. I ran to the computer. It was Bill Charlap playing "One Morning in May". I clicked on his bio and here it is:

Bill Charlap
Biography
Bill Charlap is one of the strongest mainstream jazz pianists on the scene and one of the most gifted interpreters of standards. He grew up in a musical household, as the son of Broadway songwriter Moose Charlap and singer Sandy Stewart. Taking to the piano at a young age, he went on to study at New York's High School of Performing Arts. He then entered college, but rather than finishing, opted to practice and gig on his own. Pianist Bill Mays soon took up Charlap's cause, recommending the young man as his replacement in the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. During this time, Charlap also worked with Benny Carter, Clark Terry, and Frank Wess, and was sought after as an accompanist for singers such as Tony Bennett, Carol Sloane, and Sheila Jordan. In 1995, he secured one of the most coveted piano chairs in jazz, with the Phil Woods Quintet.

All the while, Charlap showed steady development as a leader. His debut came in 1994 with Along with Me, followed by Souvenir in 1995 and Distant Star in 1996. His 1997 release, All Through the Night, was the first to feature his current trio, with the redoubtable (and unrelated) Washingtons, Peter and Kenny, on bass and drums respectively. In 2000, this lineup had its major-label breakthrough with the highly acclaimed Blue Note disc Written in the Stars. Two albums appeared in 2001: 2Gether with Warren Vaché and Contrasts with Jon Gordon. 'S Wonderful hit the shelves in 2002, as did Stardust, which began a series of albums that focused on a single composer. Stardust featured the music of Hoagy Carmichael, 2004's Somewhere was an all-Leonard Bernstein affair, while 2005's Plays George Gershwin featured ten songs by the man Charlap considers "the American soul." 2005 saw the release of an album with Sandy Stewart, Love Is Here to Stay. Two years later, Charlap released Live at the Village Vanguard. ~ David R. Adler, All Music Guide
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Unfortunately, dinners don't get prepared very quickly around here. LOL

Barb

Jazzwee,

Interesting you say that. The bass player I played with last week seemed convinced I'm much better than he is. Evidently he wasn't paying attention.
I'm amazed at how many people lack the confidence. But that goes away immediately as you start playing.
I have to say the guy I played with happened to also be extremely nice, so that adds to the fun. I want to turn this into a Wednesday night event, like a poker night, but where you play music.
You should really give it a shot and see what you think. Will be a good way to throw away all the theory and see what comes out. You have plenty of repertoire already, and most bass players will not keep up ATTYA at 200 bpm

C_A,
I love my new house. I used to be in a townhouse (rowhouse), and I would have never dared inviting a drummer over, or even a horn player. Now I feel I have no excuse.
That trombone probably won't work out so great, mainly because of schedule, but we shall see. This Wednesday I have an Alto and bass coming over. That will have to be fun!

Obviously the main reason for my post was to show off, but who knows, maybe it will trigger something with some of you